Someone in Trouble
by AnnGry
Summary: Robbie Rotten comes up with his latest and most brilliant idea to oust Sportacus from LazyTown- beating the hero at his own game. He doesn't even need to disguise himself to pull this off. If anything, having everyone know that it's him is the crux of his scheme. But will this plan's success be its own backfire?
1. Chapter 1: Looking for Lollipops

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

Deep, deep beneath LazyTown the echoing cackles of resident villain Robbie Rotten filled his lair. He danced around a churning and chugging machine as he twisted knobs and punched buttons. At last with a final clang the contraption expelled an enormous slice of cake. Robbie held up the plate with a triumphant chuckle as he admired his dish. He took a big scoop out with his fork and swallowed the mouthful whole. The sugar made his shoulders roll back with the delicious sensation.

"Mm-hmm!" he deemed this slice a success. Nothing like a sweet and chewy, frosted gooey dessert for breakfast!

But there would be no peaceful meal for Robbie Rotten. Just as he opened his mouth to take another bite the large rusted speakers hanging from his ceiling dropped down with a clatter and blared out with a child's shouts and screams. So sudden and loud was the interruption that Robbie gave a shout of his own and threw up his hands to send his cake flying. He growled and straightened up stiffly.

"Now what is it?" He stomped across the room and up the ramp to the control center of his lair. "Well, let's take a peek." He pulled down his periscope and peered into the lens. The view came into focus and gave the villain a look at the town sitting over his head. He spun the viewer around, darting through glimpses of the town square, the garden, the sports field. Quickly he found the source of the commotion.

One of those noisy kids had managed to get himself up the tree again. It was the smallest one with the round head, what was his name? Zagget, Wiggy, Ziggle? Candy-Boy was up there with a big lollipop in one hand and the tree branch in the other and it looked like he was going to fall off at any moment. The grating shrieks of laughter were quick becoming more frightful cries and calls for help. Robbie turned away from the periscope a little less annoyed.

"Well, this isn't so bad," he said. Another loud shriek from the boy made Robbie jump in place and he frowned again. "But can't he fall more _quietly?_ "

If anything the kid seemed to be getting louder. Shouldn't LazyTown's annoying sporty hero, Sportacus, be coming any moment to shut the kid up and save him? Was the kid not in _enough_ trouble yet to warrant the blue elf making an appearance?

It was too early in the morning for all this yelling. Robbie couldn't take anymore of it. With a heaving sigh he decided then and there to leave the lair and see that this got over with one way or another.

* * *

"HE-E-E-LP!" Ziggy yelled out as long and hard as he could. Getting his lollipop stuck up on the branch had been a bad idea, but trying to climb up and get it had been an even badder one. Now the little kid's grip on the branch was starting to slip and it was a long way down.

"Must you be so loud when people are trying to have their breakfast!" Robbie Rotten shouted as he stormed across the grounds to stand under Ziggy's branch. "Hurry up and let go already so I can get some peace, and a new piece of my cake!"

A swooshing sound overhead pricked Robbie's ear and he looked away from the tree with an aggravated groan. There at last was Sportacus coming down from his airship, pedaling furiously fast on his sky-chaser. First this kid interrupts Robbie's morning, and now he can't even enjoy seeing the brat fall down?

"Ziggy, hold on!" Sportacus called out as he swooped through the sky. As hard as Sportacus pedaled however it was not fast enough. Ziggy's fingers slipped off the branch one by one until with a final cry the child plummeted down towards the earth!

Robbie realized a moment too late where the child would land. Frozen to the spot he let out a strangled yell and raised his arms to shield himself belatedly as Ziggy dropped on top of him, knocking the villain down in a heap.

Within seconds of the drop Sportacus had flipped off of his sky-chaser and raced over to the tree in somersaults and handsprings. He grabbed Ziggy's flailing arms and pulled him up off the ground. With the weight off of him Robbie scrambled to pick himself up.

"Are you okay?" Sportacus asked the shaken child. Ziggy wobbled on his feet and panted to collect himself.

"Yeah, I'm fine now!" Ziggy exclaimed. He turned and pointed at Robbie with his lollipop, "Hey, Robbie!"

"What is it now?" Robbie snarled as he swatted the dirt and wrinkles out of his pinstriped pants.

"I just wanted to say, Thank-you! If you hadn't been here when I fell I would have been in a lot more trouble!"

Robbie looked cock-eyed at the kid, completely at a loss for what to say. Even Sportacus looked surprised by Ziggy's target for his gratitude, but he gave an energetic nod and thumbs up to the villain.

"That's right," Sportacus said. "You did a good thing for Ziggy today, Robbie. Looks like you were here at the right time. Good job!"

"Yeah, well," Robbie muttered through his teeth. This was not what he had come topside for at all and he moved to slink away. "Whatever."

"It looks like my help won't be needed after all," Sportacus said. He gave Ziggy a pat on the arm. "Be more careful next time, all right? I'll see you around."

"I will," Ziggy promised and waved as Sportacus back-flipped and twisted through the air back to his sky-chaser. "Thanks, Sportacus, see you later!" The little boy bounced on his feet. "Oh man, I gotta tell the other kids about this!" He ran from the tree to search out his friends.

* * *

Not so far away yet Robbie Rotten could hear Ziggy already yelling at the top of his lungs again. Didn't that kid ever run out of air for those pipes of his? He loitered around instead of returning to his lair right away and followed the noisy child's antics with resentful curiosity. Finding a discreet hiding spot in the hedge he waited to see what would happen next.

Sitting on a low wall Trixie and Stingy were engrossed in a heated battle of rock-paper-scissors while Stephanie refereed and Pixel watched. It was necessary for her to do it because Stingy kept claiming that every move Trixie threw belonged to him so that he always won. The argument was forgotten as Ziggy rushed over with his arms waving.

"Guys, guys! Guess WHAT?"

"What's going on?" Stephanie asked while Ziggy caught his breath. He gesticulated wildly with his lollipop as he told the kids all about it.

"I was up in the tree over there this morning, looking for lollipops, and I fell, off a branch! And do you know who saved me...?"

"Let me guess," Trixie drawled, "Was it Sportacus?"

"NO!" Ziggy crowed. "It was _Robbie Rotten!_ "

"What?! No way!" Stingy's voice cracked at such a crazy story. Even Stephanie was giggling and giving Ziggy a playful shake of her head.

"Come on, Ziggy, don't be silly," she chided him. "It really was Sportacus, wasn't it? He's always saving the day."

"I'm telling the truth!" Ziggy insisted. "It was Robbie! He was right there under the tree and he told me to let go, and when I fell he caught me!"

The kids gawked at this claim, their eyes bulging and their mouths agape. Even Robbie, who had been there when it happened, looked stupefied by Ziggy's re-telling of the events. It made a pretty good story, though, didn't it?

"It's hard to believe Robbie would do something so nice," Stephanie said reluctantly.

"Yeah," Trixie said, "but if it is true then it's amazing. Robbie saved you even before Sportacus could! What are the odds of that?"

"By my calculations," Pixel mused aloud as he poured over the minicomputer strapped to his wrist, "approximately ninety-five thousand, eight hundred forty-eight to one."

"Wow," Ziggy said. "Is that good or bad?"

"It's pretty amazing," Pixel summed it up with a nod to Trixie. "It was probably just a one-time fluke."

"That's right," Stingy said. "Sportacus is the one who's supposed to do the saving. That's what he's here for, not Robbie."

The other kids laughed in agreement. Dismissing the topic they turned to other games. Robbie turned away with a disgusted snort and stalked off.

"A fluke," he spat, "is that what they think of me? Bah! As if the only person who's allowed to save anyone is that Sporta-KOOK. Why, these lousy kids are tripping and falling all over themselves so much, it's no wonder that over-energetic jumping bean is popping up all of the time and driving me crazy!"

His stomping march slowed to a halt and he stood still, struck by the thought. Slowly he raised one pointing finger up to the air, loosing a low chuckle.

"I think I just got the most BRILLIANT idea... Or is it a sneeze?" He waited motionless again before crowing with glee. "It _is_ an idea! Yes, yes!" He strode off with renewed purpose now, eager to return to his lair and formulate his newest plan to get the better of Sportacus.


	2. Chapter 2: A Brilliant Idea

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

Above ground the kids were still playing, making noise, and eating sportscandy, but Robbie Rotten didn't care about that right now. Not to say that he liked all those things going on, but he had much bigger things on his mind. He paced around his lair with a crooked and toothy grin on his face, working out his most recent of revelations.

The problem of Sportacus was a simple one when Robbie really looked at it. He'd been going about it wrong all this time. Trying to take away all that gross and sweaty sports equipment never worked. And trying to get rid of all that disgustingly healthy sportscandy never got him anywhere either. But why should they? These things were just symptoms of that blue elf's influence. Robbie knew too, from too many failures, that he couldn't get rid of Sportacus directly either. No, there was something at the foundation of Sportacus' tenure here in the town, something that Robbie could take out from under him and leave him with no leg to stand on.

The question was thus: Why did Sportacus stay in LazyTown? And the answer: Because the people in it kept getting into trouble and needing their slightly above average hero to save them.

But what if it was _Robbie_ who saved the day instead?

Thanks to his speakers and periscope Robbie already knew when the kids were getting in trouble around the same time, if not before Sportacus' annoyingly vigilant crystal alerted him to take action. He had plenty of experience snooping on everybody, all he had to do now was actually go up there and step in rather than wait and watch as that jumping blue kangaroo sprang to the rescue every time.

Robbie could beat old Sporta-FLOP at his own game. They wouldn't need Sportacus anymore, and naturally he would leave town FOREVER!

The thought made Robbie throw his arms open and laugh heartily. It was too perfect! He started to declare with absolute relish,

"IT'S DISGUISE TI—"

But he stopped himself short, the words tripping to a halt. Every time he wore a disguise something always happened to make it fall apart and blow his cover. If he tried to take over the job of hero disguised as some new hero, something would surely happen to unmask him and everything would be ruined. What if, then, he wore no disguise? Was it possible for him to pull this off as just himself?

Well, why not? It was undisputed that he was the master of disguise. Glancing down the row of tubes holding some of his costumes Robbie admired the one displaying his everyday attire. With a determined grunt he yanked on a lever and sent the spandex number shooting out to envelop him in a whirlwind of dress change— one that left him turning on his heel in an identical set of clothes that he had just been wearing.

This would be his greatest disguise of all: Robbie Rotten. It would be like hiding in plain sight! He was a genius!


	3. Chapter 3: New Leaf

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

"Come on Stingy, the treehouse belongs to _all_ of us, not just you!" Trixie yelled from down on the ground. But Stingy, leaning out the treehouse window, just clucked his tongue at the other kids glaring up at him.

"Nuh-uh," he said. "It's built in MY tree, so it's MY treehouse, and you can't come up here!"

"If that's how you're gonna be," Trixie shot back, "then we're just gonna take OUR ladder!"

"Hey, stop that!" Stingy cried out with a mix of anger and dismay as Trixie started to pull the ladder away from the trunk of the tree. "How am I supposed to get down?!"

"Get used to living with the birds!" Trixie jeered.

"That's enough, Trixie," Stephanie said, and started to push the ladder back against the tree. "If he doesn't want to let us up there we can find something else to do. You can't just trap him in the treehouse."

"Come on, Pinkie, it's just a joke!" Trixie said, pulling back on the ladder against Stephanie's attempts. "Let him squirm up there a little."

"I've squirmed enough!" Stingy called shamelessly. "Let me down!"

"Not until you've sprouted wings and learned how to fly!" Trixie laughed.

"Trixie, this isn't funny anymore!" Stephanie insisted, trying to yank the ladder out of the other girl's hands. They struggled over control of the ladder and the towering tool started to twist and sway, standing free of the support of the tree.

"Uh oh," Trixie mumbled as the ladder began to teeter not towards the tree, but over her and Stephanie. "Okay, joke's over." Try as they did to push together however the heavy ladder was already teetering past the point of no return. The girls exchanged alarmed looks with each other. "I think this could be trouble," Trixie said with crumbling bravado.

"Help!" both girls changed their tactics. Stingy watched out the treehouse window with his own look of growing horror. Parked not a few feet nearby was his car, right in line with the falling ladder!

"Somebody help!" Stingy joined in with the girls' calls. "My car's in danger!"

"STINGY!" Trixie exclaimed through her clenched teeth, unable to do anything else.

* * *

High overhead in the circling airship, Sportacus' crystal flashed and beeped on his chest and interrupted his calisthenics. He glanced down quickly at it with a worried frown.

"Someone's in trouble," he knew. "Door!" The airship responded to his command and dropped down the hatch for him to step out on a viewing platform. Pulling out the spyglass strapped to his back he scanned the panoramic view he had of LazyTown, looking for what was amiss.

He spotted Stingy leaning out of the kids' treehouse looking scared out of his mind, but why? The ladder was right— Oh, no. Sportacus could see the ladder slowly coming down like a timbering tree on top of Trixie and Stephanie! He had to get down there right away! With a few hasty steps backwards Sportacus shouted a command to his airship before leaping out into the open air in a swan-dive.

"Sky-chaser!"

He free-fell for several hundred feet, shooting down like an arrow until the single-occupant pedaling glider caught up to him in a streaking arc. He landed on the device and put his head down to pedal with all his might, barreling through the sky towards the treehouse. It would be close, he was only moments away, but the ladder was coming down with all its weight now and gaining its own speed—

Robbie Rotten was on the scene, grabbing at the ladder higher up than the girls could reach and helping to push it back. He wasn't strong like Sportacus, though, and his knees buckled and his arms shook from the strain of trying to use his muscles on something so heavy.

The ladder was still coming down but its descent was slowed and both Trixie and Stephanie found enough of the burden lifted from their smaller frames so that they could let go and spring out of the way. Robbie let out an undignified squeak as the full weight of the instrument rested on his shoulders. His legs gave out from under him and he was forced onto his back, sprawled out beneath the fallen ladder with the air knocked out of him in a rush. Sportacus leapt out of his still airborne sky-chaser within seconds of Robbie's collapse.

"Is my car okay?!" Stingy cried down to the group. Miraculously the car was all right! It seemed that with Robbie's body getting in the way the ladder had been stopped short, hovering just over the fender.

Seeing that Trixie and Stephanie were standing doubled over but safe a few feet away Sportacus set to hefting the ladder up off of Robbie and setting it back up against the tree. Stingy scrambled down to the earth to join the others.

"Oh, thank you, Sportacus!" Stingy said, and paused, looking down at the still dazed villain lying flattened on the ground. "And... Robbie? Thank you, too?"

It was more a question than a statement and made everyone else look at Robbie as though noticing him in their midst for the first time. The man wheezed as he struggled to sit up.

"Robbie Rotten?" Trixie and Stephanie echoed at the same time. Robbie squinted up at all the confused faces, not quite glowering. Sportacus snapped out of the collective stupor first and reached down to grab Robbie by one arm. He hefted the taller man up easily and Robbie staggered and winced as he got his balance before shaking free of the blue elf.

"That was a great save, Robbie!" Sportacus proclaimed, congratulating the villain but at the same time sounding somewhat mystified. Robbie tried to grin but it still looked like a wince as he tried to shake out some of the soreness in his limbs.

"Yes, it was great, wasn't it?" he said none too modestly.

"You couldn't have had better timing," Sportacus agreed.

"Robbie saved us?" Trixie still couldn't believe it. "Wait 'till Pixel hears about this. His computer's going to fry..."

"How _did_ you get here so fast?" Stephanie asked, her tone just shy of accusatory. Robbie gave the pink girl a narrow look, a sneer starting to curl on his face. Didn't she just have to be the most suspicious and difficult child in town? But Robbie caught himself and turned his sneer into a smile, albeit a caustic one.

"It wasn't hard to hear you all having such a loud argument. That sounded like trouble to me, and who am _I_ ," he placed a hand on his chest, "to ignore sounds of distress like that?"

"Who are _you_?" Stephanie repeated the ludicrous question back.

"Is this some sort of joke?" Stingy asked. "I don't get it."

"What's there to joke about?" Robbie asked. "Is there something wrong with looking out for the well-being of you noisy bra— ah, kids? Or would you rather I had let the ladder fall on you?"

"Well no, of course not," Stephanie said.

"Then there you go!" Robbie said. "I may be bad most of the time, but I'm not rotten!" When this garnered some confused looks from the kids Robbie amended, "Well technically, I am, 'Robbie Rotten' but... Oh, well! As long as you kids insist on getting into trouble, there's no reason I shouldn't lend a hand where I can, right? Right?" He looked around at the kids and Sportacus and tried not to fidget on the spot under their scrutinizing stares.

"Right," Sportacus stepped up and said on behalf of everyone, speaking slowly at first but pushing forward. "I think it's great that you're turning over a new leaf. Right, kids?"

"Right," the children reluctantly chimed in.

"But Sportacus," Stingy couldn't help himself one more time, "saving us is what _you_ do, isn't it? Isn't that _your_ thing? After all, _you're_ the hero of LazyTown!"

Sportacus didn't have an answer already prepared, looking almost caught off guard by Stingy's rapid-fire assessment. He smiled then and shrugged his shoulders.

"What's important is that everyone looks out for each other," he said. "There doesn't have to be one 'hero' to do that."

"Does that mean Robbie's a hero now too?" Trixie asked. "No way!"

Stingy and Stephanie both shook their heads at the crazy notion. Robbie held back his gag reflex at the thought of donning hero's clothes like Sportacus. It would surely chafe and not look nearly as flattering as his classy purple and indigo ensemble. All the same a smirk settled in the corners of his mouth while watching Sportacus' almost dumbfounded expression. Things were going exactly as he had planned.


	4. Chapter 4: Living in a Montage

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

Over the course of the next several days Robbie had no time to relax. He was constantly woken up from naps, disturbed during cake breaks, and interrupted from watching TV by his trusty orange speakers dropping down and blaring out the activities of the children. Every energetic broadcast that would normally fill him with disgruntled fury now gave a devious lift to his spirits and tipped him off to the next occasion where trouble might brew and need saving.

And there was no end of opportunities to be had. Kids were climbing trees, slipping on skateboards, losing their kites and balls, and being the general nuisances that all children were in Robbie's eyes. All of the constant misadventures of the kids gave Robbie plenty of practice scrambling up out of his lair and rushing to be the first person to answer the call for help. The constant checking and running and coming and going had Robbie showing up around the kids in an almost uncanny fashion. He felt like he was living in a montage!

Did Ziggy pile his icecream cone too high and find himself in over his head with the teetering tower of dairy delight? The little boy's staggering to and fro trying to keep the scoops balanced had him tripping over his own shoes and at risk of falling down into a faceful of icecream- Until seemingly out of nowhere Robbie was already there trying to grab him, and in their clumsy collision Ziggy smooshed most of the multicolored frozen sweets down the front of the man's clothes. But what was left on the cone was safe and still delicious!

Was Stingy driving his car on that pothole filled road again and steering straight for a sinkhole big enough to swallow both him and his vehicle? Robbie would be there, jumping in front of the young boy to try to force him into a detour! At least that would have been what would happen if Stingy would put on the brakes, but no one was going to tell him where to drive HIS car. Robbie realized quickly that this road hog wasn't afraid to play chicken, forcing the villain to turn and try to run away- and fall straight into the pit himself. But with the lanky man filling up most of the hole Stingy could drive right over his head and shoulders and maneuver his car to safety, and isn't that what counted?

Robbie may not have possessed the overblown showboating style and finesse of Sporta-JERK, but he still got results that kept the kids from serious harm. On top of that and most important of all he was consistently getting there before the meddling hero. It was sweeter than any slice of cake to see that dumbstruck look on Sportacus' face when he arrived at almost the same time as Robbie, but oh- just a hair too late, the trouble had already been taken care of. And with no trouble to take care of Sportacus could only linger around for so long before going back up to his airship.

Nobody knew what to make of it all. Exclamations of "Robbie Rotten!" were even more frequent now than when the villain used to be called out and exposed for his failed plots. Each time they said his name it was another notch in his post. It was like the people of LazyTown didn't know how else to respond to Robbie's interference in their lives, even when his interference was for their own supposed benefit.

This was all too easy- while at the same time it was harder than any other stunt Robbie had ever pulled. The accident-prone townsfolk were running him ragged. It had to be worth it, he insisted to himself. He would get banged up, bruised, and battered as much as it took to keep that air-headed blue elf up in his blimp and out of town.


	5. Chapter 5: Will You Listen?

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

Trixie sat in the little red wagon perched at the top of the slide and addressed the other kids standing and waiting at the bottom.

"All right everybody, stand back, 'cause this baby's going to fly. Are you ready for this?" She barely gave any time for an answer as she rattled off a "Three-two-one-GO!" and pushed forward, sending her wagon careening down the steep incline.

"Woah!" Pixel exclaimed as the girl whooshed down the slide and thundered across the blacktop in a red blur. His computer chirruped and beeped in his hands as it timed Trixie. "That's gotta be a new land-speed record!"

"Go, Trixie!" Ziggy cheered. Trixie laughed over the rumbling of the wheels and the rush of wind blowing back her pigtails.

"No, no!" Stephanie cried out, pointing sharply ahead of the way Trixie's cart was barreling at top speed. "Trixie, watch out!"

"Oh-h, boy!" was all Trixie could say through her excited yelps, her eyes widening on the unforeseen obstruction to her ride— A tightly shut gate, and she was making a course straight for it! "I can't stop this thing! HELP!"

"Oh no, I can't look!" Ziggy whimpered and hid his face behind his lollipop, peeking around it when he dared.

"What is this, a playground or the Autobahn?" Robbie Rotten popped up from behind the other side of the locked gate out of breath. Scrambling with difficulty over the waist-high wall the man panted and strained to force open the latch.

"Hurry!" Pixel shouted. "At the speed Trixie's going she's going to crash in only seven more seconds!"

"Your watch better be fast!" Robbie squawked, throwing his shoulder into the gate and meeting only resistance. The fast approaching roar of wagon wheels made him sweat and his hands slapped a frantic beat against the door. Somewhere overhead a swishing and swooping noise grew louder— Sportacus, arriving to save the day—

"Watch out!" Trixie shouted, helpless to do anything more.

Robbie gave one more desperate pile drive into the gate and at last the doors burst open. He straightened up and stretched out his arms, giving a victorious laugh for his accomplishment.

In the next instant Trixie's cart crashed into the backs of his legs. Robbie slammed face-first into the ground and the wagon rambled over his back, squashing out a few more grunts from him as Trixie trundled through the opened passage. Sportacus landed on the other side and was ready to put an end to Trixie's joyride, helping to finally pull her to a halt. The other kids came running while Trixie jumped out of the wagon with an exhilarated hoot.

"That was AWESOME!" Trixie exclaimed.

"Ugh—" Robbie coughed, pushing himself up off the ground. "Sunday drivers..."

"That was a close one!" Sportacus said. It wasn't just close in Robbie's opinion, and he had the tread marks up his spine to prove it. He groaned and growled while his body creaked and complained. It was hard work just straightening his back after that drive-by. Meanwhile Sportacus was still talking to the kids. "What were you trying to do anyway?"

"Ah, well, I just wanted to go as fast as you can, Sportacus," Trixie said. "It's a lot harder than it looks."

"Next time make sure to wear a helmet," Sportacus suggested with a wink. Trixie conceded with a laugh.

" _Next_ time?" Robbie interjected. "Why should there _be_ a next time?"

"No one can get better at something if they don't practice," Sportacus said.

"That's right!" Trixie said, already emboldened despite her near-accident. "I'll go even faster next time, I'm sure of it!"

"Yeah!" Pixel said, "You could even break the sound barrier!"

"No, no, NO!" Robbie waved his arms around wildly in rejection. That would be just what he needed, for Loud-Girl to break the sound barrier AND him. "YOU," he glared at Sportacus and jabbed a finger at him in accusation. "Do you think just because you can bounce back like a rubber ball that everybody else can? Crashing into a door one time is enough. There is NO reason to get better at it!"

Sportacus started to frown and shifted his stance but when his mouth opened he had nothing to say. His narrowed blue eyes looked almost confused at the picture Robbie had painted for him. It probably was the first time anyone had ever reacted negatively to his encouragement.

"Sportacus would never want us to get hurt," Ziggy piped up, always ready to defend his hero.

"That's right," Stephanie said with a challenging air. "He wants us to always do our best and keep trying, even when it's hard. _You_ just want us to sit around all day doing nothing." Robbie let out an aggravated sigh that was almost a snarl.

"What I _want_ is for you kids to STOP sometimes and think before you go and turn something as harmless as a wagon ride into a crash course! Has it ever occurred to any of you that there are some things that don't _need_ to be made harder for NO reason?" Stephanie's glare deepened the longer Robbie went on.

"Just because you don't think a challenge is fun doesn't mean we're going to stop playing how we want," Stephanie said. The other children murmured their agreement.

"Of course, I almost forgot." Robbie let his sneer come out in its full glory, baring his teeth in feigned understanding. "Why should anyone listen to anything _I_ have to say? It's not like I save your necks all the time because you go out of your way to put yourselves in danger for the sake of 'fun' by a sports elf's standards. After all, I'm not Sporta-CRUD, am I?" Stephanie's face went pink to rival her hair, at her limit.

"You're the rudest, grumpiest, nastiest—!" she sputtered, building up a full head of steam— "rotten old man!" Ziggy gasped at his friend's outburst.

"Old?!" Robbie reeled back as though he'd been slapped.

"Woah, Pinkie, nice one," Trixie nudged Stephanie in the arm with a laugh.

"Stephanie, that's not very nice," Sportacus put a cautious hand on her shoulder. "You should apologize."

"But he's being so— so mean!" Stephanie vented her frustration.

"I AM MEAN!" Robbie roared. In that moment he didn't care about looking better than Sportacus. He was exhausted, he'd been run over, and these kids insisted on being completely ungrateful to his efforts! "Does that make me any less RIGHT?"

"No," Sportacus said, "it doesn't."

"DOESN'T IT? WELL I—" Robbie's tirade died in his throat. The children fell silent as well. Had Sportacus just _agreed_ with Robbie Rotten about something?

"Sportacus, what are you saying?" Pixel asked. "This doesn't compute."

All the kids wore expressions of complete puzzlement as Sportacus stood there, looking just as confused as they did while he tried to form a response. Robbie looked to him with just as much curiosity. Never would he have expected the hippity-hopping hero to make his case for him.

"It's good to push yourselves," Sportacus said, pausing over his normal message, "but there are still limits." He gave Robbie a quick glance, his expression strange in its resignation. "Maybe... I encourage you all to push too hard sometimes, and that makes trouble where there wouldn't be any before."

"But Sportacus," Ziggy said with a tremble in his voice, the pillar he'd put his idol on at risk of crumbling. "You don't make trouble, you solve it!"

"Yeah," Stephanie said, "this has to be one of Robbie's tricks!" Robbie rolled his eyes at this but luckily she didn't see him doing it over her head. Sportacus betrayed the smallest of grins for the blind support of his little friends.

"He may not be very nice about it, but I think Robbie knows what he is talking about for him to be able to help you all in time so much, before my crystal even beeps..." The admission put another temporary stop on Sportacus' speech and the discomfort was shared by the kids.

"Does that mean we're not supposed to play like you anymore?" Ziggy asked, his expression crestfallen.

"I'll never stop playing hard!" Trixie said.

"No, just..." Sportacus shook his head, his expression a cross between dismay and frustration. Clearly it was harder for the man to express himself in words than with some high flying flips and splits. "Just... try to be more careful next time, all right?" It was such a familiar sentiment coming from him, but somehow it rang hollow this time.


	6. Chapter 6: An Olive Branch

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

After being laid into by Robbie and the shock of Sportacus more or less backing up the curmudgeonly villain, the kids fell into a sullen sort of stupor the next couple of days. They played halfheartedly, more going through the motions than having their usual wild form of fun. In the wake of that off-kilter confrontation it was like they'd all agreed to give each other space and cool off without having to say so. Sportacus stayed up in his airship, the kids loitered in the playground, and Robbie removed himself to his lair.

As far as Robbie was concerned the kids could be resentful all they wanted if they were going to do it this quietly. It made for a more peaceful weekend on his part and gave him a chance to rest his aching body. His speakers didn't drop down once for a whole day, a new record. At last he could catch up on his backlog of overdue naps. This was just how he liked it— doing nothing. And he could do it all day, every day.

Or maybe not. By the second day Robbie already felt a restless irritation as he sat back in his furry orange recliner. He drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair, fighting against a persistent itch— not the one on his twitchy nose, but something else. The feeling like he had to be missing something going on over his head in the town if he didn't take a look through his periscope. His eyes squinted with the muscle memory of countless times peering into the view port as he forced himself to stay in his seat. That itch was getting worse every passing moment.

If there was no racket, there was no reason for him to waste his time looking around topside. That was what he wanted to believe, but it felt like the calm before a storm. Very suspicious!

"Those kids must be up to something," Robbie knew it. They had to be. He lunged up from his recliner and strode up the ramp to his control center. Yanking the periscope down he leaned in to look, determined to find out what.

Ah-ha! JUST as he suspected! It hadn't taken any time at all surveying the town to find those gaggle of kids skulking around the sports field. That was just great. They were going back to playing one of their tiresome games, one that was sure to get them in trouble that Robbie would have to go up there and—

"Robbie, is that you?"

The pink girl filled the viewer, seemingly looking all the way down through the periscope and staring back into Robbie's eyes. Robbie let out an involuntary yelp and ducked away from the view port— not that she could actually see him.

"No it's not— I'm not here!" the periscope gave a jerk side to side in denial on the surface. Gingerly Robbie peered back into the lens. Stephanie was shaking her head with the suggestion of a scornful grin pulling at her mouth.

"I know it's you," she chided. Her tone did not possess the hard edge that Robbie would have expected from her. She sounded almost teasing, in fact. It made Robbie frown.

"Fine, it's me." Robbie said. "Now if there isn't anything else, I've got to be going." It was embarrassing enough to be caught at his surveillance, he didn't want to give her the opportunity to ask too many questions.

"Wait," Stephanie said as the periscope started to retract back into the earth, "there is one thing. Don't go."

"Fine," Robbie sighed. The periscope crept back up. "What is it?" Stephanie averted her gaze for a second before meeting Robbie's "eyes" again, a slight crinkle in her brow revealing some awkwardness on her side.

"Do you... want to come up here and play with us?"

" _Play?_ With _you?_ " Robbie could not believe his ears. He gave a knee-jerk reaction, sarcastic and cold. "I couldn't possibly play, I'm far too _old_ , aren't I?"

Stephanie winced and chewed on her lip. "I didn't mean all those things I said," she said haltingly, clearly uncomfortable now. "I'm really sorry, _really_. Won't you come out here, please? Ple-ease?"

Robbie took a deep breath, ready to refuse even more forcefully, but held it. Was this Pink-Girl's way of trying to extend an olive branch? He considered this for a moment. She was the ringleader of all those other little noisemakers. It would only make things easier on Robbie to humor them in this request and maybe get on their good side for his troubles. If saving them wasn't enough, this might do the job.

Letting the air out slowly from his lungs Robbie stood up straight, smoothed out his vest and fixed his cuffs, and spoke in as casual a manner as he could muster.

"If it will stop your noisy whining," he said, "I suppose I can spare some time and come up. But only for a little while."

Stephanie's whole face lit up with relief and pleasure at his acquiescence. "That's great!" she exclaimed. "I'll go tell the others. We'll wait for you right here!"

"Great," Robbie muttered, pushing the periscope up out of the way. He rubbed at his eyes as the bubbly girl's smile had all but blinded him.

This was not a good idea, he knew. Robbie Rotten did not _play_. What was he doing, agreeing to this? He growled at himself. Well, there was nothing to do for it now. He would get it over with quickly, and that would be the end of it.


	7. Chapter 7: Jumping Through Hoops

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

The sun shone in Robbie's eyes as he emerged from his lair. The shock of the bright and beautiful day almost made him drop the lid to the silo back on top of his head. Was it too late for him to change his mind and go back down?

He skulked through town in his usual manner, sticking close to walls and sneaking around corners. When he reached the sports field he didn't make himself known right away. Instead he kept back behind the gate to the court and peeked inside, scoping out the place. The kids were still there just as Stephanie had said they would be.

"I don't know, Pinkie," Trixie was saying, "are you sure about this?"

"It'll be fine," Stephanie said. "It's just for one day. How bad could it be?"

"Couldn't we call Sportacus, just to be safe?" Ziggy asked. Stephanie's face squinched up a little bit but she shook her head.

"We aren't getting in any trouble, guys. I think we can handle this on our own."

Robbie couldn't figure out for sure what they were talking about, and he didn't get any more time to eavesdrop. Stephanie chanced to glance away from her friends and spied Robbie spying on them. She put on a gratuitous, wide smile and waved at the villain, hailing him loudly and blowing his cover.

"Hey, Robbie, you made it!"

The other kids turned and followed Stephanie's gaze and Robbie jerked down out of sight for a second from force of habit. He quickly got a hold of himself and stood back up, acting as though he'd been merely stretching. The gate scraped as he pushed it open, further ruining his entrance. To his surprise none of them actually looked all that displeased by his arrival. The pink girl's welcoming reception was downright off-putting.

"Yes," Robbie said shortly, not quite comfortable with all the kids looking so openly at him, "I did. So what?" He cleared his throat, "I mean, so what now?"

"Well," Stephanie said, "we were playing HORSE, do you want to join?"

"I don't see a horse," Robbie said, peering around the basketball court.

"Not a _real_ horse!" Trixie snorted. She held up the basketball. "We play the game with this _._ " She thrust the ball at Robbie and the man took it, fumbling with the thing. He craned his head down and gave the ball a suspicious sniff before making a small gagging noise and holding it out at arm's length.

"It's _sweaty_ ," he said.

"Come stand over here and shoot some hoops," Trixie said, waving towards the basketball hoop. Robbie shuffled over to the free throw line painted on the court and the kids moved out of the way to watch him from the sideline. But once there Robbie didn't know what to do.

"How am I supposed to shoot it?" he asked. "I don't see any cannon here."

"You don't 'shoot' it like that," Trixie laughed now and the sound made Robbie start to glower. He hadn't come outside just so the kids could laugh at him over their stupid game! "Just throw it into the net."

"First hoops, now nets?" Robbie muttered under his breath. He looked at the basketball hoop looming at the end of the lane. "Well, that doesn't look so hard."

Clutching the ball between his hands Robbie cocked his arms back into his chest and bent his knees. Gearing himself up with a wiggle he sprang up with a forceful grunt and thrust the ball into the air!

The basketball soared out of Robbie's hands— and the arc ended only halfway down the key. The rubber reverberation of the ball against the blacktop was the only sound for a moment as everyone watched the toy bounce and roll out of the court, bypassing the hoop.

"I meant to do that," Robbie declared. He walked stiffly over to where the ball had settled against the wall and stooped down to pick it up. "That was just my warm-up."

"Give it another try," Stephanie encouraged the unathletic man. Robbie scowled and grimaced as he straightened back up and found the basketball was even _more_ sweaty now. He stalked back over to the throw line, far less confident in the ease of this game.

Robbie tucked in his arms, planting the ball against his chest once more. He bent his knees, gave a preparatory wiggle...

Abruptly his back stiffened and he pointed outside of the basketball court with an expression of absolute amazement.

"Look!" he shouted. "There's a gorilla over there riding a unicycle!"

The kids gasped and boggled, turning as one towards the direction Robbie had indicated.

"Where is it?" Trixie asked.

"I can't see it," Ziggy complained. "Wait, is that it?!"

Behind the backs of the children Robbie rushed down the free throw lane and stretched his whole body up, reaching his arms out until he could just pitch the basketball into the net. He scampered back to the throw line panting and chuckling.

"My mistake," he said, "must have been a bird. Oh, look. I shot the horse!"

"You _what?_ " Ziggy exclaimed.

"The hoop!" Robbie corrected himself. "I shot the hoop. See?" The net was still waving from the ball passing through.

"That's great, Robbie," Stephanie said.

"It is, isn't it?" Robbie agreed.

"Now try it from the three-point line!" Trixie said. Robbie stopped congratulating himself to give the girl a perplexed squint.

"The what?"

"Just take a few steps back. There! Now shoot again!"

"Again?" Robbie's voice cracked. Just how long did they expect him to keep at this farce? He could see they were serious by the expectant looks on their faces. Their attentions were totally engaged by this spectacle of Robbie Rotten playing a sport. No gorilla was going to ride in on a unicycle to help him out of this one.

He stood only a few steps farther back from the hoop than before but it made the goal feel like it was miles away now. Robbie's palms were sweaty on the basketball as he lined up for his next shot. His arms were already a bit sore from his last attempt and it didn't help his form. The ball arched lazily out of his wild throw and fell even shorter of the net than before, bouncing and skidding out of the court.

"Robbie's got an 'H,'" Trixie said in a singsong tone, "too bad!"

"I don't itch! Who says I do?" Robbie snapped.

"An 'H,'" Stephanie corrected the villain. "Every time you miss a shot you get a letter. First an 'H,' then an 'O,' until it spells out 'HORSE.' That's the game."

"Aren't games supposed to be fun?" Robbie grumbled under his breath. Trixie retrieved the basketball and took her place on the free throw line and Robbie was more than happy to step down. Waiting for the kids to all take their shots gave him some time to rub his already aching arms and try to breathe out a stitch forming in his ribs.

It didn't get any better. Robbie fumbled the ball, pulled a muscle in his back, and missed every shot he threw in his increasingly frustrated thrashings at the net. Couldn't the game have been some smaller animal like CAT? But no, Robbie had to sweat it out in the hot sun as each kid went before him making their shots so that he could go up to the next shooting line on the court and foul his own up, painstakingly racking up one penalty letter after the next.

At last Robbie was on his last turn, trying to perform something called a layup. He could barely dribble the ball down the court, puffing and wheezing with sweat running down his face and stinging his eyes. The ball rolled away from him and his back protested with another painful muscle spasm as he bent down to scoop it off the ground for the final part of this maneuver, jumping up under the net to score in the hoop.

Robbie was so exhausted he couldn't even jump to get both of his feet off the ground. He flailed his arms and the ball flopped out of his hands, banged off the side of the hoop, and ricocheted back against his head.

"That's H-O-R-S-E!" Ziggy called. "Game over for you, Robbie."

"Good!" Robbie spat. His face had reached a bright shade of red from all the strenuous exercise as well as the embarrassment for his performance, and he could feel the circular impression the basketball had left on his forehead. "This was a horrible game anyway!"

"Come on, Robbie, it wasn't that bad," Stephanie said. "Why don't we all play something else?"

"Yeah," Trixie said, already gearing up for another game. "Let's do something where we can really run around! How about soccer?"

"That's a great idea," Ziggy cheered. "We can have teams of two! Do you want to be on a team with me, Robbie?"

"NO," Robbie blew the word out of his puffing cheeks. "No more games."

"Aw, come on," Trixie said. "We barely even played one game! When we play with Sportacus we do all kinds of sports."

"Do I look like that mustachioed blue buffoon?!" Robbie snapped. "I'm not going to spend all day doing flippity-flips and swish-bang-boos with you kids, I'm _tired!_ All these gross sports are no fun to me!"

"If you don't want to play any sports, what _do_ you like to do for fun?" Trixie challenged.

"That's easy," Robbie said. "Take a nap."

"No, no," Trixie insisted, "what do you do for fun _with other people?_ "

Robbie's eyes squinted into narrow slits as he glared at the pigtailed girl. A couple tense seconds passed before he finally said, "I don't."

"You don't— what?" Trixie asked.

"I don't do fun things with other people," he said nastily, spelling it out for her. "Why would I want to do _anything_ with other people? They're just noisy and tire me out. I want nothing to do with anyone!"

The kids stared back at Robbie, stunned by his declaration. He wiped some sweat off of his face and stuck his nose up, trying to regain some dignity.

"Now if you've all had _your_ fun at my expense, I'll be leaving! And don't any of you _dare_ to get into some sort of trouble and force me to come back up here, or so help me—!"

He didn't give them a chance to argue. With a parting growl Robbie stormed off of the basketball court as well as his stiff and aching joints would allow. He couldn't get back to his lair soon enough. He would run a bath so hot it would scald the dirt and sweat off his skin, and the memories of this horrible day out of his mind forever.

* * *

"Well that was a disaster," Trixie said. "What a grouch."

"I didn't know anyone could be that mean and grumpy," Ziggy agreed.

"Guys," Stephanie said, "maybe we're being too hard on Robbie."

"Are you kidding?" Trixie gave Stephanie a look of disbelief. "We hardly got to play at all before he refused to do anymore!"

"I mean," Stephanie tried to explain, "we already knew that Robbie doesn't like playing sports and being active like Sportacus does. I don't think he was having any fun at all. It's not very fair to try to make him do more of those things if he really doesn't like them, is it?"

"But how are we supposed to play with him if he doesn't want to do anything?" Ziggy asked and sighed. "It's hopeless. We're never going to be friends with Robbie, are we?"

"Just because he doesn't like some of the same things that we do, doesn't mean we can't still try to be friends with him," Stephanie said. "Maybe there's other things he would like to do that we just haven't thought of. Things that _we_ can try, instead of him."

"Like what?" Ziggy asked.

"I don't know," Stephanie said. "We're just going to have to think of them."


	8. Chapter 8: Here to Help

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

High, high above LazyTown Sportacus' airship circled in a holding pattern. Inside the town's resident hero was going through his usual practice routine. He performed a chain of backflips from stem to stern, wall kicks from port to starboard, and full body aerial twists landing in one-hand-stands from the top of the dome to the deck. All of it kept him sharp and in shape and ready to act at any moment's notice.

Not that there had been much call to action for the sports elf lately. But he didn't dwell on the fact if he could help it. Instead he kept himself busy training for the sake of training, moving because he loved to move, and doing his best to fill his time with as much activity as he could, whether that included saving people or not. Even if saving people may have been one of his favorite things to do...

A faint whistling noise outside grew sharper and louder as some fast moving projectile streaked towards the dirigible. With impeccable aim the object's flight path intercepted with just the right part of the hull, setting off sensors to be granted access inside for delivery.

"I've got mail," Sportacus was pleasantly surprised by a canister shooting up through a specially designed chute in his floor. He somersaulted across deck and caught the airborne metal tube with ease. Without any delay he unscrewed the lid to the capsule. "I wonder what it says?" He unrolled the letter with a shake of his hand. A smile tweaked his mustache as he scanned it over.

 _'Sportacus_

 _Please meet us in the park at 3_

 _It's important_

 _Stephanie'_

Sportacus would never turn down a friend in need. He checked the clock mounted in the wall of his ship for the time. It would be three o' clock in only a little while, but he couldn't wait. With an extra spring in his step Sportacus gave a skip and cartwheeled over to the pilot's seat. He wouldn't be late to help the kids this time.

Once the ship had been navigated over the park he ordered a quick method to disembark by "Ladder!" The rope ladder could barely unfurl fast enough for the man's rapid descent and he jumped off about two thirds of the way down anyway. Nobody was there yet to see him stick the landing. He eyed one of the vacant park benches before dropping down and using it for some impromptu pushups, anything to burn off some of his restless energy.

"Hey, Sportacus!" Stephanie's voice was music to his ears. She sounded just as happy to see him as he felt to hear her. He sprang up on his feet and slipped into his normal stance with arms akimbo. The girl had brought Pixel along for this meeting. Too bad none of the others seemed to be in attendance, but Sportacus was happy to see any of them.

"Hi, guys," Sportacus returned the greeting. "I got your letter. Is everyone all right?"

"Everyone's A-OK," Pixel said. "There's something else we need to talk to you about."

"That's great," Sportacus said. "I'm ready to help with anything."

"We don't really need 'help,' exactly," Stephanie said. She glanced at Pixel, seeking confirmation. "We're not really sure... It's about Robbie Rotten."

"Robbie?" Sportacus dropped his hands from his hips. "What about him? Is he causing trouble again?"

"No," Stephanie said. "Actually, we even got him to play with us."

"That's—... Wow," Sportacus said. There were some things that were even impressive to a hero. The kids nodded, acknowledging the achievement. "Then what's the problem?"

"Well," Stephanie said, "trying to play with him didn't go as well as we'd hoped."

"It crashed worse than my hard drive," Pixel said. "Robbie is totally incompatible with any of our normal games. It's like he's running on a completely different OS."

"What does that mean?" Sportacus asked.

"He can't run that fast," Pixel said more simply.

"Maybe with a little practice..." Sportacus started to suggest but Stephanie shook her head.

"I don't think he's going to change that much," Stephanie said. "Honestly I don't think he wants to." She fidgeted with the bracelets on her wrist. "Do you think that's okay? For someone to be like Robbie, is there still a way to make them happy?"

Out of all the things Stephanie could have asked of Sportacus, he never could have prepared for this. After all Robbie Rotten stood against everything that Sportacus and the kids loved. He didn't exercise, didn't eat healthy, and didn't play nice— or at all. But if Stephanie and the other kids wanted to get closer to Robbie, wouldn't that be good for the ill-mannered man? Would it be good for the kids?

"Why do you think you need to make him happy?" Sportacus asked. By the look on Stephanie's face, not even she was sure.

"Robbie's been helping us so much lately," Stephanie tried to fumble through her thoughts. "It's like he's trying to be nicer. Even if he isn't most of the time," she added with a hint of her old resentment. Her eyes dropped along with her voice, almost mumbling. "I just thought we could thank him by being nice to him, too, just like we try to do things for you sometimes. But we just ended up making him feel worse. Maybe there is no way."

Sportacus had offered the kids some advice here and there in the past, but this was almost beyond him. It certainly wasn't as straight forward as saving a kitten from a tree or stopping a runaway skateboard. Those were easy in comparison. No matter what the circumstances, though, Sportacus would do his best by his friends.

"There's always a way," Sportacus said, placing an encouraging hand on Stephanie's shoulder. She looked up at him and met the sincerity in his eyes. "I know you kids are happiest when you're moving. Robbie may not like to move as much, but maybe you can meet somewhere in the middle. Come on," he released her and patted the park bench next, inviting the kids to sit down. "We can do this together."

So they sat down and started to talk. Or at least the kids took the bench for their brainstorming session. As much as Sportacus could do for them, sitting still was one of the hardest. Instead he walked around them, jogged in place, did some jumping jacks— anything to keep his joints loose and the gears turning in his head while the kids tried to figure out what kind of activities there were that Robbie, the man who despised activity, might be persuaded to do?

The ideas were slow in coming at first. Sportacus could suggest any number of activities that he thought were a little less intense— hiking, archery, paddling a canoe? But even his most relaxing exercises were probably too much moving for Robbie's tastes. Stephanie and Pixel tried to figure out any ways they could take Sportacus' suggestions and "lazy" them down to Robbie's speed.

Sportacus was proud to see the kids so determined to do something nice for Robbie— even if it felt like he couldn't really help them with this so much after all. He suspected that Stephanie and the others had summoned him down more out of habit than any real belief that he would have the right expertise for this problem. Thankfully they were starting to come up with some things on their own. Thankfully, they didn't really need him for this... Didn't need him...

"These are great," Pixel declared once they'd come up with a good handful of ideas. "I'll go compile these on my computer for further analysis. We can show it to the other kids tomorrow!" Already running through programming macros in his head Pixel hurried for home to convert the day's brainstorming into digital data.

Stephanie lingered a bit longer, seeming reluctant to give her adieus. Sportacus knew Stephanie well enough to be able to sense there was more that she needed to say. He kept a friendly smile on his face as he tilted his head at her.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, Stephanie?" he asked. Stephanie shook her head. A small wrinkle furrowed her brow.

"There isn't anything that _you_ need, is there, Sportacus?" Stephanie asked, turning it around on the man. Sportacus' smile widened more naturally. It was touching of the girl to show some concern for him.

"I don't think so," Sportacus said. "After all, I got to see you guys today. What more could I need?"

This was apparently the wrong thing to say as Sportacus noticed Stephanie's face fall ever so slightly.

"It feels like we barely get to see you anymore," Stephanie said. "There isn't enough trouble in LazyTown for both you and Robbie, is there?" The way she asked it was hard to tell if she was joking or not.

"I think it is better if there isn't," Sportacus said wryly. Stephanie gave a small giggle, conceding to the silliness of the question before the humor subsided from her face again, giving Sportacus another searching look.

"But if there's no more trouble for you to take care of now that Robbie's doing it, what will you do?"

"Ah," Sportacus said, and paused. "Well, I will keep training, of course, so I am always ready in case I am needed." He didn't elaborate beyond that. It was hard to, when he didn't know the answer to it himself.

Sportacus had stayed in LazyTown for so long, the idea of leaving it was almost impossible to comprehend. But if the town didn't need him to be their hero anymore, what reasons did he have to stay? He spent more and more time up in his airship, training and waiting for his crystal to beep that people might need him. Training for things, he feared, that may not come along for him here again.


	9. Chapter 9: Return to Sender

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

Safe and sound inside his lair Robbie was starting to feel better with some premium pampering. He'd run a bath over the brim with bubbles; put on his furriest slippers and slouchiest robe; doused an enormous bucket of popcorn with butter; and then, at last, he'd settled deeply in the cushy oversized confines of his recliner.

With the push of a button his TV set dropped down to eye level already broadcasting his favorite station, the shopping channel. Almost as soon as the next infomercial started to play Robbie fell asleep, spilling his popcorn across his lap and snoring louder than the show. He needed to get his energy back after all that horrendous moving around he'd done. Yes, he'd paid his dues to those annoying kids by going out there before. Now they had better keep it quiet so he could enjoy this nap.

In fact he did enjoy his nap so much that he slept into the evening and all through the night. He dreamt of basketball hoops half his height that he could easily stroll over to and drop the ball through the net over and over again. All the while a corral of horses neighed and stamped their hooves in approval of his hoop shooting prowess, clattering up a storm.

The banging and clattering noise was real! Robbie startled awake with a shout, spilling the rest of the popcorn off his lap. "STAMPEDE!" He slipped off his recliner and huddled down with his arms over his head, bracing himself for striking hooves.

It wasn't horses. Peering through his arms Robbie looked around the echoing chamber of his living quarters. What was that horrible banging and clanging racket? It sounded like the roof was going to come down on his head! He squinted up at the exposed network of chutes, tubes, and shafts that crisscrossed the ceiling of his bunker. The longer he looked and listened, he thought he could almost follow the noise as it rattled around up there.

Something was coming down one of the tunnels he used to access his lair, Robbie realized. He continued to listen and stare as he slowly got up on his feet. Was it some stray animal? He hoped not. There was nothing worse for an underground lair than a groundhog.

The clanging and banging reached a deafening crescendo before at last the unidentified falling object exited the vent with an ominous _phwoomf_. It was cylindrical, shiny, and hard as it shot out and hit Robbie right in the stomach. The air leapt out of his lungs with a _woomf_ of his own and he fell back into his recliner so hard the chair almost flipped over.

Robbie sat dazed in his rocking chair and fumbled at the projectile in his lap. All he could gather was that it was some kind of canister. It took him a few seconds of staring to recognize it as one of the letter capsules the children normally used to contact Sportacus. A frown started to form in the corners of his mouth as the initial surprise wore off.

"Those KIDS. I play their vile game with them and they shoot this garbage down into my lair, making all that noise? And for what?"

This was one letter that would be Returned to Sender. But still, he couldn't help feeling curious. Nobody ever sent Robbie Rotten letters. What could those brats possibly have to write to him about? He twisted and strained with the cap until he could unscrew it. Inside the canister contained a single rolled up piece of paper for his troubles. He squinted at it and read aloud in a perplexed mutter.

"Let's see here. ' _Robbie..._ ' That's me... ' _Come to the dock this afternoon... We have something for you?_ ' What?" He scratched his head and flipped the paper over back and forth, looking for more of an explanation. "That's it? What kind of letter is this?"

Was this some sort of trick? It seemed like the kind of thing that Robbie would do if he wanted to lure someone right where he wanted them in order to spring a trap. Well, no lousy kids were going to trick him! He crossed his arms and sunk back deep into his seat, determining right then and there that he would not leave this spot for anyone or anything. They could wait up there all day if they wanted to. Nothing was getting him out of this chair.

Something rattled and banged high overhead. Robbie jerked his face towards the clamoring ruckus working its way through the pipes and chutes in the ceiling. It rambled and knocked louder and louder until finally there was a _phwoomf_ — and a second letter canister shot out of one of the vents.

The capsule's trajectory was slightly off target and went flying right past Robbie's seat, skidding and clattering across the floor until it crashed into a pile of scrap metal somewhere out of sight. The echoes died down from the tunnels and left the lair in silence once more.

Robbie sat stiffly in his seat, his ears still ringing. His arms crossed so tightly across his chest he could barely breathe. A twitch tickled his nose. He started to tap one foot, then the other.

He sat there for ten seconds before scrambling out of the recliner and making a mad dash across the room. Robbie fell on hands and knees as he threw miscellaneous machine parts out of his way in his manic search to find the canister. He'd worked up a sweat by the time he unearthed the small cylindrical treasure. Sitting back on the floor he prized the lid off and pulled out the rolled up letter inside.

 _P.S._

 _This is not a trick_

 _Please don't be late_

Robbie stared at the post script and read it over again several times. His face didn't know whether to smile or frown. He had the letter clenched in his hands, ready to crumple it up savagely into a little ball while at the same time being careful not to cease the corners and ruin the penmanship.

Not a trick... a likely story.

But they said please...

Two letters in one day... that was a new record.

He sat there, torn between whether he should just tear up the letters or tuck them away somewhere for safe keeping. He glanced up towards the ceiling at the air ducts, vents, and pipes, listening for any more rumblings. But there was no more mail to be delivered, and nothing more to sway him one way or the other.


	10. Chapter 10: Hook Line and Sinker

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

It was a perfect day to be outside, the sky a clear blue and free of clouds. Strong sunshine made the lake sparkle as it lapped against the dock. It was good swimming weather but the kids weren't splashing around. Instead they were waiting up on the boardwalk, and had been for some time.

Stephanie sat in the cabana with her chin in her hands while beside her Pixel was keeping tabs on the weather with his computer. Leaning on the counter Stingy drummed his fingers with increasing impatience. He checked his watch for the fifth time.

"I don't think he's coming," Stingy said.

"Just a few more minutes," Stephanie said.

"You said that ten minutes ago," Stingy grumbled. The girl sighed.

"Maybe he didn't get our letters?" she suggested. Pixel shook his head.

"I don't think so. I put tracking on them before we sent them. The signal got faint when it went underground, but it looks like they were received, see?" He pushed a few buttons on the palmtop computer strapped to his arm and showed Stephanie the screen. While the exact location was unclear the device showed that the canisters had stopped traveling at some point, presumably reaching their destination.

"I don't understand," Stephanie said. "I thought for sure it would work. Sportacus always comes when we send him letters."

"I think Robbie has made it clear that he's not Sportacus," Pixel said. "But still, he could at least RSVP yes or no. He's had all morning to decide."

"Not if he sleeps in until noon," Stingy suggested dryly.

"Did we not give him enough time to get ready?" Stephanie considered the idea. "Should we write him again and reschedule?"

"Do NOT send more letters," Robbie said. The kids looked up in surprise as the villain rounded the fence and stalked onto the boardwalk.

"You're here!" Stephanie said, half in greeting and half in relief.

"You're _late_ ," Stingy said. Robbie gave the boy a narrow look and Stephanie darted out of the cabana to move things along.

"Let's not waste any more time, then. Are you ready?"

Robbie turned his suspicious gaze onto Stephanie. "Ready for what? That chicken scratch you call a note barely said anything."

"Just come this way," Stephanie took Robbie by the elbow and pulled him down the boardwalk. Robbie gave a startled jerk for being manhandled by the pink girl but found himself following her direction and heading for the dock with the rest of the kids following.

Four beach chairs sat in a row on the dock overlooking the water. Next to each chair a fishing rod lay ready with one large tackle box to share. Stephanie walked Robbie right over and guided him to sit down in one of the chairs. He shook his arm a bit once she let go of him and looked around himself at the setup. His expression remained guarded.

"What's this supposed to be?" he asked.

"It's fishing," Pixel said, taking one of the seats beside Robbie's. He picked up his fishing rod and showed it to the man. "You've got your line right here, and it winds up in the reel all the way down to where you hook your bait on the end. See?"

Robbie saw, and his expression soured. "Another one of your games," he said, sounding like he was chewing a lemon.

"This is one even you should like," Stephanie said.

"And why," Robbie asked, "should I like anything about it?"

"Because to play this game we all have to sit still and be really quiet," Stephanie said. "If we don't we'll scare the fish away, and we won't catch anything."

Robbie's ears perked at this. It sounded too good to be true. The way the kids watched him so intently for his reaction, there had to be more to it. He picked up the rod beside his seat and turned it over, trying to appear casual.

"And you use this thing to catch fish," he supposed. It felt like a flimsy piece of metal and wire. A delicately sharp hook was already tied at the end of the line. He wouldn't have expected the kids to be capable of laying traps to catch anything, not even fish. "How does it work?"

"First you put some bait on the hook," Pixel explained, "then you cast your line into the water. After that you just wait."

"That's it?" Robbie looked from the rod in his hand out to the open water before him, and back to his seat on the dock. "Well. That's easy."

Stingy took the chair on the other side of Robbie and opened the tackle box. Besides spare hooks and reels of wire there was the bait, a can of whole corn kernels. Robbie watched and held back a gag as the kids picked out their corn to place on their hooks.

"Go ahead, Robbie," Pixel encouraged him. "You won't catch anything without some bait."

"What kind of bait is this? Do you think fish want this disgusting sportscandy? Yuck!"

"It was this or worms," Stingy said. "And I wasn't letting some dirty old worms in MY tackle box."

"Fair enough," Robbie muttered. The thought of having to hook a wriggling worm was about as bad as corn. He was still loathe to pick out one of the yellow kernels. In his fumbling he managed to prick his thumb and stuck it in his mouth, only to yank it back with his tongue sticking out. Ugh, the taste of vegetable juice!

It was time to cast. Taking his cue from the kids around him Robbie wound back with his rod and threw it forward. The rod almost flew out of his hands but he tightened his grip on the handle just in time and watched in awe as the line shot out over the lake and landed with a _plop_ into the water. One by one the bobbers resurfaced and floated out there together.

"Now we wait," Pixel said. He settled back in his beach chair with his fishing rod tucked in his arm, slid his visor down over his eyes, and let out a contented sigh.

"Out here, in the sun?" Robbie asked skeptically.

"We made sure to put on sunscreen," Stingy said, getting comfortable as well. He adjusted a small white sailor's cap on his head— not much for protection against UV rays but it was stylish enough.

"Here, Robbie, you can borrow this if you need it," Stephanie leaned over her beach chair and pulled out from under it a big floppy straw sun hat. Robbie juggled his fishing rod in one hand and took the offered accessory in the other with an uncertain sneer.

"This is just going to make me look silly," he said. Stephanie shrugged, put on her own more colorful flower-print bonnet, and laid back in her chair. When it was apparent the kids weren't keeping an eye on him to see what he would do Robbie grudgingly palmed the sun hat over his head. It felt ridiculous and probably looked even more so, but nobody said a word. At least now the sun was out of his eyes.

Robbie sat hunched on his beach chair with his fishing rod clutched in both hands. He glanced furtively around between the kids and the lines that reached out into the water. Were they really going to just sit there quietly? They weren't even talking amongst themselves with their usual grating prattle. Weren't they bored?

He leaned back slowly into his seat, a frown still cemented on his mouth. Well, two could play at this game— or in this case, was it four? Whatever. If it kept them from being noisy and active by sitting up here with them, Robbie supposed it wasn't the worst use of his time.

It was actually sort of relaxing, Robbie found the longer they stayed there. The only sounds were the occasional chirruping bird and the repetitive splash of water hitting the dock below them. The lake was smooth and calm, only the red and white bobbers interrupting the serene blue surface. Why didn't he come nap out here more often? It was downright peaceful, really...

"Robbie, you did it!"

Robbie jumped in his seat and grabbed at the fishing rod jerking around in his lax grip. He'd fallen asleep sitting there and now the rude awakening had him confused and alarmed.

"No I didn't— Wait, what's going on?" Robbie asked. The line was tensing and unwinding fast on the reel with a sharp _whizz_ noise. Out in the lake his bobber had disappeared under the water, nowhere to be seen.

"You got a bite! Reel it in!" Pixel said excitedly.

Robbie grappled at the reel and struggled to wind it back up against the tension. The rod bowed with the pressure of whatever was on the other end of the line fighting back. It tugged hard and Robbie felt himself pulled forward off his chair.

"Is it a big whale?!" Robbie cried out in dismay. The creature would pull him underwater and swallow him whole! "Why did I let you talk me into this?" His heels skidded on the dock as he was dragged towards the edge. The kids jumped out of their chairs and rushed to his aid.

"There aren't any whales around here, it's just a fish! Now hang on!" The kids grabbed onto Robbie however they could, taking fistfuls of his vest and wrapping their arms around his legs, anything to help keep him grounded.

"Then it must be a very-very-VERY big fat fish," Robbie grit through his teeth. That was just as scary. Was there any way to unhook it without having to reel it in first? His fists ached with how hard he held on as he strained and pulled back on the rod and wound it up as fast as he could.

For every time he managed to pull the line in closer it yanked back ferociously and nearly took the villain and the kids over the dock. Robbie could see something shadowy taking shape in the water as the disturbance caused huge ripples and waves around the line. It was a tug-of-war with a monster from the deep! His heart pounded in his chest and the sun hat tumbled off his head when he next pulled back as hard as he could, giving a great yell.

The water exploded and splashed up on the dock as something huge, green, and thrashing flew through the air connected to the line. It crashed into Robbie and knocked him back into his beach chair and scattered the kids.

"Get it off!" Robbie shrieked and tried to push the slimy wet thing off of himself, but the line had tangled around him and it. The kids ran back to Robbie cheering and laughing as they helped to free him.

By the time the line was untangled the fish had stopped flailing as much and sat heavily in Robbie's lap. He stared down in amazement at the enormous largemouth bass gulping and staring back up at him. Its scales were a striking green color, shining like deep emeralds and grassy peridots. Had he really caught _this?_ _Him?_

"That was AMAZING!" Stephanie exclaimed.

"IT'S MINE!" Stingy proclaimed.

"It's Robbie's catch, Stingy," Pixel said. "Man, it's huge! I wonder how much it weighs?"

While the kids babbled Robbie felt something fluttering in his chest besides his racing heartbeat. It was a ticklish sensation, pulling the corners of his mouth up at first in an involuntary twitch. He chuckled a little from the adrenaline rush. Then, he let out a wholehearted laugh.

The kids stopped talking and stared at the man, not believing their eyes or their ears. This was no menacing leer or evil cackle like he normally did. It was sincere and pure. Could it be possible? Was Robbie Rotten actually _happy?_

The sound was contagious. Stephanie giggled and Pixel and Stingy started to hoot and guffaw along with them. The only one not joining in was the fish. They laughed together for what felt like a good long time until Robbie wiped at one eye and took in a shaky breath to calm himself.

"You all lied," Robbie said, his voice still thick with mirth.

"No we didn't," Stingy denied, "about what?"

"You said all we had to do was sit around and be quiet," Robbie said. "That was a lot of moving around for doing nothing."

"Yeah," Stephanie said, "but you were so good at being still and quiet that you caught the biggest fish ever! Isn't that great?"

"I suppose it is," Robbie said. It was strange to hear anyone complimenting his ability to be lazy, especially one of the children. Strange, but good. "Now you see how important it is not to move around so much, don't you?"

"Maybe sometimes," Stephanie said with a grin, and the boys nodded. The kids didn't try to argue with Robbie, and Robbie didn't argue any more with them. Even stranger. It seemed like for the first time ever, they all had found a way to get it.


	11. Chapter 11: Friendly Foe

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

After that day something was different between the kids of LazyTown and Robbie Rotten. Where before the villain had always tried to ruin all of their games, now they had found ways that the man would actually play with them. It took some getting used to at first, having to slow down and quiet down. But it was worth it each time Robbie showed up at their invitation and didn't leave in a huff, but with a grin on his face.

They convinced Robbie to venture out into Lazy Woods with them for bird watching. He didn't appreciate the hike but once there it was just a matter of finding a place to hide quietly, watch, and wait. They appealed to Robbie's sneakier tendencies and he even managed to disguise them all as bushes to help them blend into the trees so that the wildlife would not be spooked by their presence.

Not only did they see the full spectrum of plumage in birds from cardinals to goldfinches to blue jays, but many of the winged little raptors went so far as to land on Robbie's shrub costume, giving the kids an up close look at nature's fauna. They only took flight when Robbie sneezed from all the feathers in his face. Despite the slight upset Robbie was more pleased to have his disguise used successfully than anything else.

Appealing to one of Robbie's other passions, eating, the children got him to come out into the wide open of a field for a picnic. It was almost a disaster. Robbie refused to touch any of the sportscandy, juice, or... gag... _potato salad_... that had been packed in the basket. Luckily the man had the foresight to bring his own version of sportscandy that he could eat— candy corn, sugar apples, jellybeans, and of course a big slice of cake— after which he seemed content enough to lie sprawled out on the picnic blanket staring up at the sky.

Curious as to what had Robbie so captivated the kids lay down as well to see. They ended up spending the rest of the picnic looking at all the clouds floating peacefully by. It became a game to see what kind of shapes or pictures they could make out of the fluffy white wisps. Trixie and Stingy both saw a car and argued over who saw it first. Stephanie saw less controversial objects like bunnies and ballerinas. Pixel saw a satellite, or was it the real thing? And Ziggy and Robbie both saw lollipops, at least until Robbie fell asleep. Then he only sawed logs.

Not only were they finding new things to do together, but over time the kids and Robbie realized they had more in common than they ever could have guessed. For instance didn't both Ziggy and Robbie love all kinds of sweets and candy? And what better way to share in this love of sugary treats than by baking together? It was a piece of cake with the right recipe. Even easier still when Robbie brought out one of his inventions that could shoot out wholly formed slices of cake with the twist of a knob and pull of a lever.

In fact, Robbie's penchant for inventions gave him more to talk about with Pixel than any of the other kids. It became almost like a competition to see who made the better inventions— although Robbie's creations had the unfortunate tendency to malfunction or outright blow up more often than not, they still made quite the first impression. Between Pixel's programming savvy with his computer and Robbie's tinkering and hodgepodge machines they had plenty to compare notes over.

And when they weren't talking shop, Pixel had found a new person to teach the joys of video games to. Robbie was easily persuaded to try anything that mainly involved sitting in one spot. As he got the knack of the controls he was jumping around in his seat and yelling at the screen just as much as the kids. It was all well and good until Stingy wanted HIS turn to play the game. The fancy boy had a hard time wrestling the remote control out of Robbie's hands.

Despite their equally selfish tendencies Stingy and Robbie could get on fairly well when they wanted something from each other. More specifically, when they wanted something material that the other one had. Stingy was a proud owner of all the finer things in life, not to mention money. Robbie was a packrat of the highest order who had expensive and hard to get things of his own. He could trade with Stingy anything from a mountain of comic books to coins from all over the world (including Iceland), to a coffee cup with a map of Texas on it. Their bartering and bargaining could get heated at times much to the amusement of the other kids, especially Trixie, who liked to tease them for being so intense over something as boring as collections.

When she wasn't making fun however Trixie and Robbie could be thicker than thieves. Her mischievous jokes and pranks found a like-minded soul in the villain who had a long history of playing tricks on everyone in LazyTown. While Robbie didn't care for Loud-Girl's noisy daredevil stunts he was plenty amused whenever she pranked the other kids. Their combined forces left no one safe to sit down without fear of a tack or a whoopee cushion, to open a door without checking for a bucket of water balanced on the top of the frame, or to take a friendly pat on the back without checking for a note stuck onto them that said "kick me."

Then there was Stephanie. Out of any of the kids she may have had the hardest time relating to Robbie. After all she was the pink tornado, the one who had turned everything the townspeople knew upside down when she first arrived to stay with her uncle. She was the one responsible for bringing that blue elf in to shake it all up into a dancing, singing, and playing filled headache for Robbie, the laziest, grumpiest, no-do-anythingist guy in all of LazyTown. They were at odds with each other almost as much as Robbie was with Sportacus, and that was an impressive thing to match.

With all of that being said, as Stephanie kept trying her best to get along with Robbie, she saw more and more how Robbie got along with the rest of her friends. Beneath the sneaky, snarky, and sour exterior was the core of a man who just really liked cake and to relax. Sometimes he did funny stuff that even she could laugh at. She wouldn't dare to say it to his face but Stephanie could confide in her diary what she really thought of him: that mostly, Robbie was kind of a big softy.


	12. Chapter 12: Victory Dance

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

The days had become so busy for Robbie that it took him a while to realize something. His time was filled with monitoring the town for signs of trouble, stepping in and saving anyone, or just hanging out with the kids in all the various ways they'd started to get together. He'd never had a social calendar before, and never one so full.

It occurred to Robbie without any real provocation one day, in between pulling Ziggy's head out of a trash can and going to meet some of the other kids in the park to fly kites. He'd stuck his finger in his mouth and held it up, glancing towards the sky as he felt for the wind conditions, when he saw it. That darker blue speck way up there among the clouds, easy to overlook, but he just happened to notice it that time. Sportacus' airship.

And Robbie thought idly to himself, not really thinking that hard: Say, when was the last time he'd seen old Sporta-LOON running and flipping around town, anyway?

That was when it hit him. He hadn't seen Sportacus in days. Maybe even weeks!

The appearance of the blue elf had already been cut down substantially when Robbie took over the trouble-saving work. Now, too, the more time the kids spent doing things with Robbie, the less time they spent with Sportacus. They didn't need Sportacus to save them, and there was no opportunity even to play with him if they were playing with Robbie. With Sportacus out of sight up in the zeppelin, he was out of mind. He was as good as gone from LazyTown.

Robbie stood in the middle of the lane, stunned by this epiphany.

His plan had _worked_.

For the first time in a long time Robbie let out a maniacal laugh. He was so pleased with himself he couldn't help but to do a little jig right there on the spot, tapping his shoes and pumping his arms in absolute self-congratulatory fashion. He was so caught up in patting himself on the back that he didn't notice Stephanie and Trixie coming up behind him.

"What's going on, Robbie, got some ants in your pants?" Trixie called playfully. Robbie immediately spun around to face them and went stiff and straight as a board. He cleared his throat of the last dregs of his cackling and tried not to let his embarrassment at being caught show.

"Of course not," Robbie said, "I was just dancing— I mean no, I wasn't!" He immediately regretted speaking even one honest word as Stephanie's face lit up, her interest piqued.

"Wow, I didn't think you ever danced for anything! What's the occasion?"

The question reminded Robbie all over again and he smiled before he could help himself. He shook his head quickly to try to dislodge the betraying look but to no avail.

"Never mind that. I just remembered a funny joke is all." He chuckled again. "A really good one."

"Really?" Trixie liked a good joke as much as the next person. "How does it go?"

"Maybe I'll tell you sometime," Robbie drawled. "Right now, though, I think you should go fly a kite." He glanced up at the skies again, seeing only clear blue over the park. "Let's all go."


	13. Chapter 13: Don't Get Caught

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

All board games referenced herein are owned by Milton Bradley and Hasbro.

* * *

To Robbie there was nothing better than a rainy day. Nobody could do any sports in the sports field, play in the playground, or even park themselves in the park, because it was too cold, wet, windy, and muddy to be outside. On a day like this everyone had to stay indoors where they couldn't move as much. Even better, they had to use inside voices, much quieter than their normal yelling and screaming.

He knew that the kids of LazyTown were sitting inside nice and peaceful because he was there with them and seeing to it that they stayed that way. Well, really the Gizmo Guy had invited Robbie to join the rest of the kids over at his house and he hadn't refused. Instead of playing video games like normal however Pixel had surprised the whole group by presenting them with some board games to choose from.

Of all the board games they could play there could not be one more perfectly suited to Robbie Rotten than Mouse Trap. Building a machine bit by bit, luring the other players in with the bait, setting a trap— it was like the game had been made just for him. And he was about to win.

He blew on the dice in his hand, gave them a shake, and threw them down on the table. They bounced and rolled and landed just right. Ziggy and Trixie leaned in the closest to gawk at the numbers. They gasped and groaned while Robbie gleefully moved his player piece, a little green mouse, around the board and got to put the last part of the machine into place. He turned the crank with relish and there was nothing any of the kids could do but watch the trap go off.

It was like poetry in motion. With a snap the swinging boot kicked over the bucket and sent a steel ball down a zigzagging chute. It slalomed through the next twisting chute until it hit a pole— knocking another steel ball higher up into the little bathtub where it circled the drain before dropping down— landing on a seesaw and flipping the plastic man into the pan where at last the net was released and with a clatter dropped down on the mice around the cheese wheel. In all it took about ten, maybe fifteen seconds before it was over. They were the greatest ten to fifteen seconds of Robbie's life.

"YES!" Robbie sprang up off of the crowded couch in Pixel's room and almost knocked Ziggy over the arm of the sofa. "You're all in my trap," he gloated. "I've WON!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Trixie said, a bit of a sore loser. "You're the biggest, baddest mouse catcher in all of LazyTown, big deal!"

"I'm tired of having to watch you all play," Stingy complained. "It's MY turn to choose a game now, and I want to be player one!"

"Nuh-uh," Ziggy said. "Whoever wins the last game gets to choose what we play next. Isn't that right, Stephanie?" When Stephanie didn't chime in right away Ziggy looked over to his friend. "Stephanie? Are you okay?"

The other kids gradually stopped talking or arguing to look at the girl. Stephanie didn't look upset at losing the game like Trixie and she hadn't made any complaints. Actually she had been quieter than usual for a while. Now she just sat there looking at the finished board game with an odd expression on her face. In the trap there was Trixie's red mouse, Ziggy's yellow mouse, and Stephanie's blue mouse. She seemed to be staring especially hard at the little blue mouse trapped under the net.

"Hey, Pinkie, are you in there?" Trixie waved her hand in front of Stephanie's face. It was enough to break her concentration and Stephanie glanced up with a startled look at all of the people watching her.

"Huh? Oh— yeah, that's right." She slipped on a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "I think I'm done playing for now. Stingy can take my place."

"All right!" Stingy cheered as Stephanie got up from the couch. The boy was quick to take her vacated seat and he shoved Mouse Trap clear off the table to slap his own game of choice down before anyone could argue with him again. "Who's ready to play Trouble?"

"Ugh," Robbie pulled a face that made it clear he was not. "Don't you get into enough trouble already? Why would you want to make a game out of it?"

"In this game you get _other_ people in trouble," Trixie said with a mischievous grin. "Sometimes trouble can be fun."

"You did NOT just say that," Robbie said. He turned on his heel and picked his way out from between the table and the couch. "I'll sit this one out."

"It's not real trouble, it's just a game," Pixel said as he slid into the seat Robbie had left behind. "And look, you get to roll the dice by pressing the Pop-O-Matic. It's fun, see?" He compressed the plastic dome in the center of the board game and it let out a sharp crisp _pop_. The die inside jumped and rattled around against the walls of the bubble. Robbie looked even less amused than he had before.

"A board game that makes noise. I should have known. It may as well be called 'Headache.'"

"I think we've got that game too," Pixel offered. Robbie rolled his eyes.

"Never mind. I'll be leaving then."

"I'll go too," Stephanie said. The other kids looked at Stephanie as though she had sprouted a second head. Even Robbie eyed her with some surprise. It wasn't like Pink-Girl to bow out on her friends so suddenly. It only got weirder when she looked back at the villain and asked, "Robbie, could you walk me home?"

"I... yes?" Robbie didn't know what else to say.

"You're both leaving?" Ziggy whined. "Can't you stay for just one more game?"

"It's getting late, and I promised my uncle I'd be home before dark. It's already pretty dark out there," Stephanie indicated the window. The time couldn't have been that late, Robbie reckoned, but the heavy storm clouds covering the town made it look like evening. Seemed more like the pink pixie was keen on leaving sooner rather than later.

"If they're both going, do I get their turns?" Stingy asked.

"As if, Stingy!" Trixie cuffed the boy on the arm.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," Stephanie said, and received a distracted chorus of farewells from the other kids who were already busy setting up their new game. She pulled on her jacket and slipped out the door. Robbie followed more slowly behind her.

* * *

The rain made a soft hissing noise as it fell in a steady curtain outside. It was preferable to the increasing clamor going on in Pixel's house and Robbie enjoyed the relative quiet as soon as he shut the front door behind himself. What a relief. He struggled with his umbrella for a few seconds trying to get the stubborn thing to open.

Stephanie was standing out on the sidewalk and waiting for him. Her raincoat didn't do much good to keep the rain off her head and the water already had some pink strands plastered against her face. That was a fool kid for you, Robbie thought. With a sigh he walked over and held the umbrella up so that it would cover both of them, at least most of the way. He could feel the rain pelting through the sleeve of one arm but otherwise it kept him dry.

For a moment they stood like that looking at each other, Stephanie with perhaps a touch of surprise up at Robbie's thoughtfulness, Robbie with more of an analytical squint down at her. She remembered her manners and put on another limp little smile even weaker than the last one.

"Thank you," she said.

They started to walk. Stephanie made sure to keep her eyes down on the sidewalk, avoiding looking at the villain. Robbie kept watching her. It felt awfully crowded under the umbrella with an awkward silence wedging itself between the two of them. There was nothing natural about Robbie Rotten walking a kid home in the rain, yet here they were.

"So," Robbie said after they'd gone about half a block in this strange silence. "Board games too boring for you?"

"What?" Stephanie looked up in her confusion until Robbie's words made sense. "Oh— no, they're fine. I guess, it's just..." She waved her hands around, trying to put whatever was going through her head into words. "It's not as fun as doing things for real, that's all."

Robbie snorted. "I don't think being a mouse would be as fun as you think." He buffed his nails against his vest and blew on them. "Certainly not with the biggest and baddest mouse catcher around. You wouldn't stand a chance."

It got a short if polite giggle from Stephanie before she fell silent again. The pink girl had never been this quiet before. Robbie should have been enjoying the rare occasion of a child that was seen and not heard but it was obvious she wasn't quiet on the inside. She was thinking so hard that Robbie could almost hear it.

"Do you miss setting traps for real?" Stephanie asked. It was Robbie's turn to be startled and he peered down at her.

"My traps are not simple games," Robbie said. "Why do you think I set them in the first place?"

"To catch Sportacus," Stephanie was ready with the answer. The moment the name tripped off her tongue they both slowed to a halt.

It was the first time in what felt like a long time that anybody had mentioned Sportacus out loud. Stephanie's face went a shade of pink to complement her hair. Robbie stood rigid like a pole, his shoulders tensing up. The kids had learned well enough that bringing up the topic of the sports elf never went over well with Robbie, and here Stephanie had gone and done it just like that.

"I— I mean," Stephanie stammered over her words, "That's why you were always wearing disguises and building traps and things, right? To try to trick Sportacus or beat him at something, or catch him." She was wringing her hands, not even realizing it. "But he never comes around anymore, and you don't get to do any of those things now. You— you had fun trying to catch him all the time, didn't you? Maybe you even..." She winced as she suggested it, "Miss... him?"

"Me," Robbie said. Miss Sportacus? _Him?_ Had the child completely lost her mind? "I don't need some blowhard hero to give me a reason to do anything. I can do whatever I want whenever I want." What a ridiculous question. He started to turn it around on her, "Why, do _you_ —?" but caught himself when he saw her face.

Stephanie's eyes were big and round and dewy. The wind must have shifted at some point as she had a few streaks of rain tracking down her cheeks. There was no hint of even an attempt at a smile anymore. She looked so suddenly fragile, so pathetic— so on the verge of _crying_. Oh, no.

Robbie hated all noises that kids could make. He hated their screaming, their shouting, and their laughing. But the one noise that he couldn't stand above all the others was crying. It made his hair stand on end, his fists clench, and his mouth dry up. An uncomfortable percussion kicked off against his ribs from his heart.

"Tell me, Pink-Girl," Robbie said with a deliberate uplift to his words, "did that blue typhoon ever show you kids how to play outside in the rain, or was he too busy staying up in his weather balloon?"

Stephanie blinked a few times in rapid succession, seeming confused by Robbie's redirection. She shook her head. Robbie shoved the umbrella into her hand and ran ahead down the sidewalk.

"Of course not! What's the good in being good all the time if you've never even jumped in a puddle? Like this!"

With a leap Robbie launched himself at the first big puddle he could find and sent up a sizable splash around his ankles. Stephanie stared at the villain, her mouth dropping open. Seeing an even larger collection of standing water in the gutter of the street Robbie bent his knees, pumped his arms, and hurled himself off the sidewalk.

It was deeper than he expected and he landed with an enormous crash of water that reached well up his shins. He lost his footing in the slippery depths and before he knew it one leg shot out from under him, then the other. He fell hard on his rump into the puddle and sent up more waves. The puddle saturated his socks, his shoes, and his pants, while the rain still falling finished the job soaking through his turtleneck and vest.

Robbie wiped at some flyaway hairs plastered against his forehead and wiggled a finger in his ear to try to loose some unwelcome water. That had not gone quite how he'd intended it to... Then he heard Stephanie laughing behind him, not a polite chuckle but the real thing this time. The girl had her eyes screwed shut tight she was laughing so hard. Robbie didn't even mind that she was laughing at him. It had worked.

Stephanie ran after the villain and sprang off of the sidewalk with a shout. Robbie just had time to shield his face before she splashed down into the puddle that was fast becoming a tidal pool in the street. She hopped up and down splashing over and over again, laughing and cheering as Robbie got up on his feet and joined her.

They hopped and kicked and slipped around until they were both exhausted. When Robbie took his umbrella back they shared another chuckle. It hardly seemed worth holding it up over their heads when they were both so thoroughly soaked. The rest of the walk to Stephanie's house went much quicker and they were there in no time, arriving on the front step.

Stephanie reached to open the door but paused. She looked up at Robbie and gave him a beatific smile, one so bright it was like the clouds had parted to let the sun though. It dazzled him. Before he knew what was happening she had thrown her arms around his middle and squeezed him in a quick, tight hug.

"Thanks, Robbie," she mumbled. Releasing him she yanked open the door and ducked into the house. Her manners had slipped again, not inviting the man in to dry off, but Robbie was too stunned to care about that. He turned and walked back down the path to the sidewalk and continued alone to his lair.

All of his clothing was wet and dirty and chafed his skin. His shoes squelched and sucked at his socks with every step. He felt a tickle in his nose like a sneeze was brewing— no small wonder if he got sick from pulling that stunt. But somehow, there was still the smallest grin lurking in the corners of his mouth.

That Pink-Girl had almost gotten him with that trap. Luring him in with talk of Sportacus? To suggest that anyone, least of all Robbie, should miss him? It didn't matter. Robbie had turned her mind away from the blue elf. He'd kept those tears from coming out of those big brown eyes. And for his efforts she'd even hugged him...

Never mind that.

The point was she didn't need Sportacus. And Robbie sure didn't either. No one did.


	14. Chapter 14: Bitter With the Sweet

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

There was nothing out of the ordinary going on. Robbie arrived at Ziggy's house for the afternoon snack where they always had cake in the kitchen. Every other time Robbie's cake machine had dispensed a nice big slice of creamy confection Ziggy had cheered and clapped and grabbed his fork, ready to dig in. This time, however, the little boy stared at the baked good as though searching for something hidden within the layers of frosting and chocolate.

Ziggy looked up at Robbie and asked, "Can your machine make other kinds of cake too?"

"Of course. It does vanilla, marble, mousse, ganache—" He ticked them off his fingers with satisfaction, "Buttercream, icing, ice cream— anything you could want!" Ziggy nodded at all of these but still he didn't seem satisfied.

"Can it make... carrot cake?"

"Anything at all!" Robbie continued to promote the qualities of his machine. "Black forest, red velvet, pound cake, cheesecake! You want carrot? It can make—"

He stopped short as he realized what word had come out of his mouth and his lips twisted. Narrowing his eyes Robbie repeated back what Candy-Boy had asked.

"Carrot... cake?"

"Well, yeah," Ziggy nodded. "Or maybe pineapple upside-down cake, or pumpkin and spice? Or a fruitcake?"

" _Fruit_ -cake?" Robbie's voice cracked on the unsightly word. "Eugh, that's disgusting! I'd never put something so vile in my machine!"

"Oh," Ziggy said, wilting under the force of Robbie's rejection.

That settled the matter. Ziggy picked up his fork and prodded at his piece of cake. Glad to be done with the subject Robbie pulled the crank on the machine again and waited as it chugged out another delectable sugary slice. Taking his own fork he scooped out a big chunk and lifted it to his lips, eager to eradicate every last trace of carrots or fruit from his mouth down to the last syllable.

"What about pies?" Ziggy asked, perking up again. Robbie paused with the fork mere inches from his parted teeth. He lowered the utensil.

"Pies? In the machine? I suppose. Yes." He nodded, warming up to the idea. "Chocolate silk pies, peanut butter cream, custard, Shoofly pie with sticky molasses..." Robbie's mouth watered at all the possibilities. "Yes, those could work just fine."

"Yeah!" Ziggy bounced in his seat, joining in on Robbie's rekindled enthusiasm. "And apple pies and sweet potato pies and blueberry and—?"

Ziggy faltered under the dark and stormy look Robbie shot at him. He cleared his throat and let out a giggle.

"And— pecan pie?"

"You," Robbie growled, "are _nuts_. None of those things belong in a dessert."

"But sportscandy _can_ be a dessert!" Ziggy tried to appeal to Robbie's sweet tooth. "A banana is _really_ sweet, it's like a dessert all on its own. And the best part is not only do they taste good, but they're good for you, too."

"Is that so?" Robbie asked. "Suddenly my cakes aren't good enough for you, is that it? You'd rather gnaw on some nasty old carrot than candy?"

"Oh, no, Robbie!" Ziggy held up his hands in a flustered move to ease the tension radiating off of the man. "It's not that at all! I love cake and candy! It's just— It's..."

The boy fumbled at the air with his hands and over his words. His brow scrunched as he stumbled through his thoughts.

"It feels like I don't eat as many fruits and vegetables now as I used to. I guess I sort of... miss sportscandy sometimes, when I'm having cake instead." His eyes pleaded with Robbie. "Don't you think sportscandy can be good, at least sometimes? If you made it really sweet, wouldn't that be okay?"

Robbie suppressed a shudder. Something in Candy-Boy's choice of words reminded him a little too much of a conversation he'd had with a certain pink girl not too long ago. There was that look in his face, too, that delicate quality in his eyes as he waited for Robbie to lay down his verdict on the subject. A look that said the boy's entire mood depended on whether Robbie lifted his spirits up, or put him down.

He'd been staring hard at Ziggy for several long seconds deliberating in his head. Ziggy sat petrified in his seat, only a slight tremor in his lower lip assuring that he wasn't just a statue. Robbie took a long draw of air in through his nose and set down his fork on his plate.

"How is it," Robbie asked, "that one would make a—" A brief halt, the word lodged in his throat and he forced it out. "A banana. How do we make a banana sweeter?"

Ziggy's eyebrows shot up and his lip stopped trembling as his mouth opened in a small silent gasp. He practically vibrated on the spot with a sudden swell of excitement at Robbie's inquiry.

"Well that's easy! We can bake it in a banana cream pie or we could mush it up into banana bread or you can even freeze it like icecream! Or you could dip it in chocolate or—"

"Chocolate's fine," Robbie said through his teeth. "Let's do that." Hearing all of the ways to prepare a banana just made his skin crawl and he didn't need to know every last one. Just one would do to keep that wistful look off of Ziggy's face, and it was already working.

"Oh, thank you, Robbie!" Ziggy exclaimed as he hopped off his seat. "We can melt some chocolate and dip some bananas right now! This will be great!"

"Just great," Robbie muttered. His stomach did a flip-flop at seeing how absolutely elated Ziggy was now. The little boy flew around the kitchen getting everything together like a pinball in an arcade machine.

It wouldn't hurt to humor this request to hide sportscandy in the sweets just for one day. After all, that was what made the stupid banana so exciting to the kid, wasn't it? Take something that was supposed to be healthy and cover it in a coating of candy! He would just make sure they used plenty of chocolate. Ziggy would be satisfied eating only the chocolate shell and not even want the banana by the time they got down to it.

He could handle this. It would be a piece of cake...

He eyed the abandoned slices sitting on the table.

... or not.


	15. Chapter 15: Two Little Words

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

Something wasn't right.

It was hard for Robbie to put his finger on. Were the kids playing less than usual? No, that didn't seem to be it. They didn't play as recklessly as they used to but they still filled their days with all sorts of games, many of which Robbie even took part in. Maybe they weren't eating enough? That wasn't it either. As many slices of cake as he could ply them with the kids still rounded their meals out with more than enough of that despicable sportscandy. They still got into trouble now and then too, which Robbie made sure to keep up with and save them from whenever they needed saving.

Everything seemed right on the surface, but still there was that Something. Something niggled at the back of Robbie's thoughts whenever he spent time with the children and saw those strange moments of introspection on their faces, momentarily lost in thought. Like a whisper in his ear it was trying to warn him that he was missing Something. Whatever it was, it created a strange sort of unrest among the children. And if the children couldn't rest, neither could Robbie.

* * *

Sitting in the town square one day, Stingy happened by and joined Robbie on his favorite bench. The boy didn't say anything at first, acting casual. He even hummed a little song while idling there. It was not quite the level of quiet companionship that Robbie normally cared to tolerate but he could tune it out easily enough, so they sat like that for a few minutes.

Stingy made sidelong glances at Robbie then too, brief little peeks up at the man's face before averting his eyes and observing a passing butterfly with intense focus instead. But his looks kept drifting back to the villain. Eventually Stingy must have gathered up his courage enough for whatever he was angling for as he finally cast an offhanded question Robbie's way.

"Hey, Robbie," Stingy said with practiced nonchalance, "do you think I could... have your cufflinks, perhaps?"

"My what?" Robbie arched an eyebrow at him. "Why would you want something like that?" The fancy boy desired some strange things sometimes, sure, but Robbie's French cuffs weren't going to keep themselves up. Well, whatever. They'd haggled over lesser things before. "I guess that depends. What'll you trade me for them?"

"Oh, I don't want to trade," Stingy said. "I just thought maybe you'd, ah— give them to me?"

"Give them to you? For nothing?" Robbie frowned a little, not understanding what kind of game Stingy was trying to play here. "No, I think not."

"Oh," Stingy said with audible disappointment. He tapped his fingers on the arm of the bench and looked away again but Robbie was on to him now. When Stingy glanced back over he was caught in the man's suspicious gaze. He cleared his throat. "What about your pocket chain?"

Robbie planted a hand over the pocket on his vest where his silver chain dangled. "You want to trade for that, now?" he asked. Stingy hemmed and hawed and shook his head. Robbie's frown deepened. "You want me to just give it to you."

"That's right," Stingy nodded and held out his hand. "So will you?"

"Are you joking? No way!"

"But I'd take really good care of it," Stingy needled and cajoled him. "Please?"

"What possible use do you have for my cuffs or my chain?" Robbie snapped.

"Well I don't really need them for anything," Stingy said, "it's just— It's..."

Stingy looked off again and his eyes seemed to see a thousand yards away as he searched for the answer. Robbie felt a sinking sensation in his stomach. The words came pouring out of Stingy in a rush.

"Well, it's not like you have something really _really_ valuable like a— a special crystal, that you need to keep safe, is there? So I thought maybe one of these other things you always have must be important to you somehow, and— And you can trust me to keep them safe for you, can't you?"

Stingy stared at the ground, his head drooping.

"But I guess not."

"Here," Robbie said flatly. He unfastened one cufflink, then the other. His cuffs flopped open on his wrists but he didn't care. He shoved the links at Stingy. "Just take them."

"Really?" Stingy's voice cracked with his surprise as he fumbled to accept. "Thank you, Robbie! I'll take good care of them, I promise!"

"Whatever," Robbie said. Stingy didn't notice the lackluster response, he was too busy ogling over the shiny accessories in his hot little hands.

* * *

Snickering and sneaking around in Lazy Park, Trixie and Robbie were making final preparations on a prank. It was simple enough, just a big bed sheet painted to look like a ghost and tied with a line that they were busy trying to throw over a tree branch so they could hoist it out of sight. Anyone who walked underneath would be in for a spooky surprise when the pranksters dropped the spectral sheet on top of their heads.

It was almost ready. Robbie was yanking on the line, struggling against the weight of the draping sheet as it slowly raised up off the ground and in among the branches. Trixie watched his work silently for a while until he was almost done. Something clicked in her head and her eyes lit up like light bulbs.

"Hey! What if _we_ climbed up in the tree instead, and when Ziggy or Stephanie comes by we hang upside down and give them a really big BOO! They'll never see us coming, it'd scare them out of their minds!"

"I'm not climbing up any tree," Robbie grunted as he fought to keep the 'ghost' elevated, "and I'm certainly not hanging out of one by my ankles either. Let's stick to the plan, I just got the thing up there!"

"Fine," Trixie sighed. She kicked at a rock with a testy swing of her foot and watched it bounce against the trunk of the tree and narrowly miss Robbie, who was busy securing the line to a stake in the ground. But the gears were still turning between her ears and she came up with another one.

"You know what would really freak them out? Seeing a _giant_ ghost! I can put the sheet on myself and if I stand on your shoulders we'll look huge!"

"My shoulders are not for standing on," Robbie said. "You weigh more than you look you know!"

"Then what _will_ you do?" Trixie demanded and crossed her arms in a huff. Robbie crossed his arms too, huffing right back at her.

"I'll do anything that doesn't involve picking up some squirmy kid or climbing up onto some high tree branch. It works perfectly well as it is where we can stay safe on the ground and watch it go off on its own. Why are you so determined to break our necks?"

"I know the prank will work," Trixie said, "it's just—"

Robbie stiffened up, sensing what was to come. He uncrossed his arms and held up his hands to stop her but the pigtailed girl kept going.

"It's not the same just watching things happen when you can really be part of them and show off your moves! Anyone can set a prank like this, who else can swing from a branch by their legs?" Trixie's arms tightened around herself and she glared daggers into the tree. "But if you can't even climb a tree or carry someone on your shoulders, I guess there's no point."

"If that's how you feel about it," Robbie growled, "fine."

"Fine," Trixie snapped back at him.

Robbie dropped to his knees next to the sulking girl. The sudden move made Trixie startle in place and she goggled at the kneeling villain. Robbie glared straight into her eyes.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Are you getting on or not?"

"Woah, really?!" Trixie let out a sharp laugh she was so surprised. Her arms uncrossed and her whole expression opened up as well. "This will be awesome, Robbie, thanks!"

Trixie ran around behind Robbie and scrambled up on his back. She may have scuffed him a bit as her feet came around either side of his head until she was sitting on his shoulders. Robbie grit his teeth and his knees knocked as he painstakingly rose up.

"This is AMAZING!" Trixie yelled and threw out her arms with the thrill of being so high up! She laughed with the pure joy of it and Robbie held tightly to her legs to keep her from falling right off. "You're stronger than you look, Robbie!"

"Don't look too hard," Robbie wheezed as the rambunctious girl dug her heels into his chest. He staggered around a bit with his center of balance thrown by Trixie's added weight but the girl just laughed again.

"Get closer to the tree so I can pull down the sheet. This is going to be the best prank ever!"

"It sure will," Robbie grumbled. He just wasn't sure who the prank was on now.

* * *

Robbie could count on Pixel for an afternoon firmly planted on the couch with nothing harder to hold onto than a video game controller. They would sit for hours with their faces glued to the TV screen until they went cross-eyed. Expecting another long gaming session this time Robbie made sure to limber up before taking his seat, shaking out his arms and legs and even his wrists. The last thing he wanted was a hand cramp during a difficult level.

"So what's it going to be?" Robbie asked as he settled himself down in his spot on the couch. He'd sat in that spot so often and for so long that the cushion had started to mold to his shape and had a hint of his outline so he had to wiggle around to get just right and comfortable. "Crawling through a dungeon? Or racing some cars? Maybe jumping on some platforms?"

"Actually," Pixel said, "I thought we could play a new game I got."

"Whatever," Robbie said. "I'm ready for anything."

"Well, first you'll have to stand up," Pixel said. Robbie squinted at the boy to see if he was being serious. He was reluctant to get out of his perfect spot but it didn't look like they were going to be playing any of the games he'd expected. With a grudging creak in his back Robbie pulled himself out of his seat and got back up.

"Now what?" Robbie asked. Pixel turned away from the entertainment center and puttered around his room for a moment, picking through his gadgets and computers and leftover boxes from snacks— he'd never been the tidiest kid, and it hadn't gotten any cleaner with the villain's regular contributions to the place. Eventually Pixel seized on something and tugged it out from between a big computer tower and some piled up hard drives and dragged it over.

It was a large foam pad cut into a square. Pixel pushed the table out from in front of the couch and set the thing down on the floor and that was when Robbie saw there were buttons just like a game controller on its face.

"What's with the oversized remote," Robbie asked with a touch of dread, "inviting a troll over to play?"

"You don't hold this controller in your hands," Pixel said, "you control it with your feet. Isn't that cool?"

"What's wrong with our hands?" Robbie didn't like where this was going.

"Nothing," Pixel said. "But with this we can play my new game, Step Mania. You have to step on the buttons in time with the screen, sort of like dancing— actually I found this other game too that tracks your whole body's motion and you have to copy the dance moves they show on the screen for that one instead of pressing buttons, it's pretty cool how they do it—"

Pixel was on a roll describing the mechanics of all these new rhythm games he wanted to try— Let's Dance, Beat Mania, Dance Revolution, Rock Band, Fit Sports, Exerbeat? Robbie felt himself growing exhausted just hearing about them. Simulated dancing and beating and punching and kicking and—

"Enough," Robbie cut sharply into Pixel's monologue. "The point of video games is _not_ to move while playing them. These aren't even games, they're just working out in disguise! What are you trying to do, exercise, or have _fun?_ "

"Of course I want to have fun," Pixel said, "It's just—"

That was it. Those two little words dropped like stones in Robbie's stomach. Every time the kids opened their mouths and those words came out, it was all over.

"I don't know... Video games are great, but if we forget to take breaks and move around we just get stiff and sore, and that's not any fun. A video game that can still get you up and moving around should be even better, right? Like we're really _in_ the game and doing things, and it helps our bodies at the same time! But if it would just be more work than fun, I guess—"

"Not you too," Robbie muttered.

"Huh?" Pixel glanced up at him. Robbie shook his head.

"You use your feet on this, you said?" Robbie pointed at the dance mat.

"Uh... yeah," Pixel said. Robbie prodded at the large square pad on the floor with the toe of his shoe. When he nudged one of the oversized buttons the game responded on the TV screen, beeping and flashing. Robbie retracted his foot, his toes curling up in his sock.

"One game," Robbie declared severely.

"You're sure?" Pixel flashed a smile. "Hey, thanks, Robbie! Don't worry, this'll be fun!"

"Let's just get this over with," Robbie grumbled. He stepped onto the center of the mat and stood there stiffly like a man marooned on a very small island with Pixel excitedly circling like a shark. The game started up and blasted some high tempo music. No time to back out now. It was sink or swim.


	16. Chapter 16: Not Enough

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

It wasn't unusual for Robbie to have trouble sleeping sometimes. For as much as he napped, it didn't make up for a bad night's rest. Sometimes his insomnia got so bad he couldn't sleep for three days. If he could just stop thinking for long enough, he would fall asleep. But his thoughts were noisier than ever and he couldn't shut them up.

And how his body ached! His stomach kept gurgling ominously after he'd dared to nibble on a banana at Ziggy's insistence. It was lucky he wasn't completely sick from it. And his neck still felt stiff from when Trixie had sat on his shoulders the other day. The giant ghost prank had gone spectacularly, sure, but at the cost of the alignment of Robbie's spine. His legs were aching with shin splints from hopping around like a mad fool on that dancing pad at Pixel's house too. He wouldn't be able to walk right for days.

These things weren't just physically taxing. That was only the beginning to his restless nights. For every exhausting encounter he recounted in his chair his mind couldn't stop latching on to the same repeating note like an earworm. One after another each child had shown that same sort of sad expression, and they'd said those two wistful words...

Robbie pressed his pillows against his ears but he couldn't drown out their voices in his head.

 _It's just—_

 _It's just—_

 _Just—_

It's just not enough, they were saying. Cake couldn't compare to sportscandy. A pocket chain couldn't compete with a beeping crystal. Simple pranks couldn't live up to flashy moves and stunts, sitting down couldn't stand up to moving and dancing and swishing and flipping and—

They were trying to change him. No one ever came out and said it, but it was obvious when he looked at it all together. The kids weren't content with him as he was. They wanted him to be Sportacus, not Robbie Rotten.

His lip curled in a silent sneer at himself. It figured as much that the flipping blue elf didn't even have to be around to get the better of the villain. Even when Robbie was the winner, he was still the loser.

Insufferable little ingrates. Robbie was running himself ragged trying to give those kids everything they wanted, to make them happy—

But why? Why was he doing this to himself? He'd gotten what he wanted, hadn't he? Sportacus was gone, and LazyTown was a little quieter and a little lazier for it. So what if it made the sniveling children unhappy? He didn't care...

Except he did...

His plan had been so simple. It had _worked_. Yet he couldn't even gloat over his success, not anymore. He could never have foreseen this side effect in his plot. Somewhere along the way, he had started to actually... _like_... those kids. To care for them.

The realization burned in his throat. He dug his nails into the arms of his chair hard enough to rip out some of the bright orange fur, better that than his own hair. His scheme had been too clever. He'd trapped himself! No, no!

How could this have happened?!

He'd spent weeks watching after the uppity little imps and saving anyone in trouble: catching Ziggy whenever he fell out of a tree looking for lollipops; or serving as a speed bump for Trixie in her runaway wagon; or filling in a pothole for Stingy—

Weeks of keeping those kids busy with all the ways they'd found to play together: fishing off the dock; or puzzling through board games; or going for a picnic— Getting invited to Pixel's house for video games or setting up pranks with Trixie. Jumping in puddles or making chocolate fondue or loaning cufflinks.

Why was he not enough for them?

He glanced down at himself, slumped back deep into his chair, his house coat frumpy and wrinkled. Was it because he refused to eat sportscandy? Because he wasn't strong or athletic? Because he didn't try to wear a perky a smile all the time? It was the lack of a mustache, he bet.

He hadn't done any of those things but still in his own lazy way he'd managed to connect with those unruly urchins. The kids had befriended him in return, had welcomed him into their games and their lives. He didn't have to force them to do what he wanted them to anymore because he didn't want to. It was good to be bad, but he liked to be liked, too.

They just didn't like him enough, not as much as they liked Sportacus. And they were missing their hero more and more every day.

That was it, the Something that wasn't right. As hard as it was for Robbie to admit, Sportacus was as much a part of LazyTown as any of the other residents or himself. Getting rid of Sportacus had only made it all the more obvious how important he was to everyone in town, how much they needed him to be there encouraging them, playing with them, saving them. Robbie never thought it possible, that he would actually come to understand why Sportacus did all those things. Now that he was the one doing them, or trying to, the blue-suited man's absence was more profoundly felt than ever, like a hole in his chest.

He couldn't keep doing this. He couldn't give the kids everything they wanted, try as he might. The way things were going, no one could be truly happy. Not Stephanie, not Ziggy, not Pixel or Stingy or Trixie. If they weren't happy, Robbie couldn't be happy.

But if Sportacus were to come back, what would happen to everything that Robbie had worked so hard for? Without Sportacus around the kids actually listened to Robbie and showed a little respect to him for once and to the things that he liked. The moment that elf set foot back in town he knew the kids would be off running, and leaving him behind in their dust. Was it so easy for them to forget about Robbie Rotten? Didn't anyone care about what he wanted?

Robbie ground his teeth together in his frustration. What _did_ he want anymore? He thought he'd gotten it, but he was wrong. He had been wrong about everything. He was always wrong, wrong, _wrong!_

He tossed and turned in his recliner, unable to find a way out. They were all in trouble without Sportacus, and it was up to Robbie to save them... but how?


	17. Chapter 17: His Rotten Plan

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

"Hey, guys," Stephanie said, "have you noticed Robbie acting strange?" Sitting on top of the brick wall she looked askance at the other kids loitering with her on a peaceful afternoon.

"When isn't he acting strange? Humph," Stingy dismissed the question with a wave of his hand while the other kids giggled in agreement.

"No, really," Stephanie insisted. "Don't you think he's been kind of grumpy lately?"

"I think that's how he normally is," Pixel said. "It's his default setting."

"Why, Pinkie?" Trixie asked. "Are you worried about Robbie or something?"

"There isn't anything to worry about, is there?" Ziggy asked, already growing concerned. "What's wrong, Stephanie, is he sick?"

"No, Ziggy," Stephanie assured the boy. "At least, I don't think so? He does seem tired a lot of the time."

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Trixie drawled and pointed down the walk. "Here he comes now."

The kids all turned to see Robbie coming down the lane. His normally more expressive style of walking was a little less punctuated than usual. He didn't swing his arms side to side and his hands weren't even balled up into fists. His shoulders sagged a little rather than being hunched up around his ears. Even his clothing looked a bit rumpled and worn today. He narrowed his gaze at the kids with a slight frown for their collective stare.

"What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?" Robbie asked. Truth be told he had some dark shadows under his eyes.

"Hey, Robbie," Stephanie said, "no, we were just— Ah," she glanced around at the other kids, checking if they saw the same things she did, but none of them appeared all that concerned.

"Just 'ah?' Are you going to sneeze?" Robbie prodded Stephanie with a touch of irritation in his tone that made Trixie and Stingy snicker a little. The man shot a hard look at the other kids and they quieted down.

"Are you— feeling all right?" Stephanie took the plunge and asked him directly. Robbie squinted at the question and straightened his shoulders.

"Why shouldn't I?" he asked.

"You just look a little— tired?" Stephanie suggested in a delicate voice. The other kids offered her no help. They were drinking up the delightfully uncomfortable conversation she'd brought upon herself.

"Ah," Robbie said. "Yes, well." He smoothed out some wrinkles in his vest and straightened his cufflinks. "I've been working on something special is all."

"Special? Like a surprise?" Ziggy asked, his interest piqued.

"For me?" Stingy asked, also intrigued.

"Yes," Robbie said, "for all you little br—... bright-eyed and bushy-tailed kids."

"Wow, you really did it just for us? That's so nice of you!" Stephanie relaxed and hopped off the wall.

"Yeah, sure," Robbie said, "whatever."

"What is it?" Ziggy started to bounce in place. "Is it a swimming pool full of chocolate?"

"Or a big trampoline?" Trixie asked.

"Can we see it now?" Pixel asked.

"Me first!" Stingy said, rushing to get ahead of the others. He nearly ran straight into Robbie in his hurry to call dibs. "Where is it, where's my surprise?"

"It's not far," Robbie said. "We'll just cut through the park here and you'll see."

The kids cheered at Robbie's goodwill and fell into line behind the man. Leaving the hardtop of the town center they entered the park and tramped through the grass and between the trees. Despite the excited chatter going on behind him Robbie maintained a stately pace, not in any apparent hurry, which made Stingy all the more impatient behind him.

"WOAH!" Ziggy stopped short in the procession, making Trixie bump into him.

"Hey, watch it! What's the big idea?" Trixie asked. Ziggy pointed excitedly at their feet.

"Lollipop, look!"

Lying on the ground was a perfectly striped red and white lollipop almost as big as Ziggy's own head. He reached down and grabbed hold of the stick but when he tried to pick it up it held fast as though glued down. Trixie sighed irritably behind him.

"Come on, Ziggy, we don't have time for this."

"It seems to be stuck," Ziggy's face twisted with the effort as he tugged harder on the candy, determined to pull it loose. At last with a pop it came free of its fastening— revealing a lever underneath which sprung back as soon as it was released. "What—?" Ziggy started to ask—

It was as though the ground exploded out from under Ziggy and Trixie's feet, grass and twigs flying up around them with a snapping and _sproing-_ ing noise. They were engulfed in a net and yanked up off the ground!

"Woah, hey!" Trixie shouted as she was jumbled around inside the net with Ziggy. "What's going on?"

A bit further ahead Stephanie and the other kids stumbled to a halt to look back at the commotion. They gasped and gaped at the spectacle of Ziggy and Trixie all tumbled together in the net and hoisted high from a sturdy tree branch. Robbie was the only one who didn't appear surprised. He sauntered back over towards the tree and stood under it to look at the kids.

"Well that was easy," Robbie declared. "So much for the Three Second Rule, hey, Candy-Boy?"

"Robbie, did _you_ do this?" Ziggy asked. Robbie plucked at the line that kept the net up in the air so that it made a low resonating note, assuring that the tension held.

"Did I set the trap? Maybe I did. _You_ were the one who set it off."

"All right, Robbie, very funny, you got us," Trixie called out. "That was a good prank. You can let us down now."

"Bingo-bongo," Robbie replied in a singsong tone. "You are WRONG-O."

"Wrong-o?" Ziggy struggled to get leverage in the net under Trixie's legs. "What does that mean?"

"This is not a prank," Robbie spelled it out for them. "You're not going anywhere."

"Seriously?! You can't just leave us up here!" Trixie protested. "But why?"

"Because," Robbie said as he inspected his nails. He took a moment to contemplate his cuticles before continuing. "After all I've put up with, letting you use me like a jungle gym, you still think I should bend over backwards for you even more? Just how much is one villain supposed to take?" He growled. "You spoiled little snots don't know when to quit while you're ahead. Well, I'm done playing all your stupid games. It's time you start playing _my_ game."

"What game is that supposed to be?" Ziggy asked.

"The one where you're the mice, and I'm the mouse catcher," Robbie said. He gave them an unsettling grin that was more like a sneer. With a swat of his hand he made them twist and spin helplessly in the net. "And I'm the biggest, baddest mouse catcher in all of LazyTown. So that's two mice down..." He turned his head slowly towards the other kids who still stood there gawking. "Three to go."

"Is he for real?" Pixel asked, swallowing.

"Do you want to ask him yourself?" Stingy pointed with a shaking finger. "Here he comes."

Robbie's gaze was unwavering, a disquieting stare. He walked with calm and collected steps away from the children swinging in the net towards the ones still standing free. Not a walk; a stalking, looming approach.

"Run!" Stephanie blurted out.

Stingy ran one way, making a beeline for his car back in the square. Pixel went another, dashing for home. Stephanie turned on her heel to flee as well but hesitated at the sound of Ziggy and Trixie's cries.

"Stephanie, don't leave us!" Ziggy begged.

"Yeah, get us down!" Trixie pleaded.

"I—" She stood locked in place, torn between staying or going.

"Face it, little girl," Robbie's taunting voice raised the hairs on the back of her neck, much closer than she would have liked. "You don't stand a chance."

"I'll be back!" Stephanie yelped as she ducked her head and ran as hard as she could. She didn't know how close Robbie was and she didn't want to. "I'll get help, I promise!"

* * *

The skies were clear and calm on this peaceful afternoon, making for smooth sailing up in Sportacus' airship. He sat on top of the pilot's console in a rare moment of meditation, just looking out on the vast horizon that lay before his eyes. He could go anywhere he wanted in his zeppelin and do anything.

There were plenty of places that could use a hero's helping hand. Places like BullyTown, for instance, that needed a little more guidance than others. Over the past few weeks Sportacus had been reacquainting himself with these other towns, putting miles on his dirigible, and getting some much needed exercise. But always the man found himself drifting back to LazyTown, even when there was nothing for him to do there.

At this high elevation he had only the softest of panoramic views of the town, houses and yards blurring together into a patchwork of pastoral pieces. LazyTown was nestled among a checkerboard of golden and green pastures and fields and a few blue bodies of water. It made Sportacus feel calm just to look at it; lazy, even.

He wondered how the kids were doing. Were they still playing outside and eating healthy without him there? Did they ever go fishing with Robbie? He could only imagine how that may have gone. Whatever had happened, there had been no more call for Sportacus to come down to them. He had learned to count on his crystal being quiet when he was in range of LazyTown. Quiet, and boring... maybe a little lonely...

Well, there was always BullyTown...

The airship beeped and whirred as a receiving shaft slid open and equalized the pressure in the hull. Sportacus watched as a metal tube shot up out of the floor like a bullet. He caught it automatically but paused, looking at the projectile that had intruded on his thoughts.

"I've got mail," he pondered.

The letter inside was crumpled and smudged and Sportacus took care in smoothing it out. Whoever had sent this must have been in a hurry. The penmanship was questionable at best. Sportacus' brow wrinkled with mounting concern as he deciphered the contents of the letter. He couldn't account for the crude handwriting but the urgency came through clearly enough.

 _SPORTFACE_

 _GET DOWN HERE_

 _TROUBLE! ! !_

Trouble? In LazyTown?

There was no time to waste. Someone needed his help, and right away.


	18. Chapter 18: Fun and Games

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

"Where's my car?" Stingy panted as he ran fast as he could out of Lazy Park. Stephanie had been right. Robbie was acting strange, all right. He'd gone completely coo-coo! With a cry of relief Stingy found his car right where he'd left it parked beside the brick wall. The boy didn't bother with the door, instead diving straight into the driver's seat. The vehicle sputtered and coughed to life and he was off, motoring for home.

The car hugged the corner with a squeal of its tires as Stingy rounded the bend. He gasped and jerked the wheel to the side, veering around the deep pothole that waited on the other side. He always forgot this hole was here and it always nearly left him totaled.

"They really need to fix this street!" Stingy bumped and skidded a little until he regained control of the car. At least there was nothing but clear roads ahead of him now—

Another pothole yawned open in front of the car that Stingy had never seen before. Yanking on the steering wheel again the boy narrowly managed to swerve out of the way of the freshly dug pit. He rose up out of his seat with how much the car bumped and jostled on the torn up pavement.

"What is going on?!" Stingy boggled at the state of his road. There were more potholes than ever before! He swerved and veered, dodged and careened through the impromptu obstacle course, avoiding pits and mountains of dirt alike. Had Robbie done all of this?

He had no time to think about it as suddenly the ground bucked and crumbled in a grinding tumult, giving out from under his tires. Stingy could do nothing but hold on to the wheel and shriek as the car dipped and slid into the sinkhole. He landed with a crash at the bottom.

"Oh, no," Stingy moaned and coughed, clearing his throat of dirt and dust. "Is my car okay?" He peered around himself. The vehicle had landed on all four tires at the bottom of the hole and was dinged up with rocks and rubble but otherwise seemed okay. "But what about me?" Stingy turned his concerns away from the car and looked at his predicament. "How am I going to get out of here?"

A head popped over the side of the hole, looking down at Stingy. Stingy's brief surge of hope was dashed as he recognized Robbie's distinctively coiffed hair.

"Car trouble?" Robbie called down in pleasant tones. "Need a hand?"

Stingy was too shaken up to speak. But when Robbie extended an arm down towards him the boy didn't have many other options available. He stood up in his car and reached out to take Robbie's hand.

Robbie grabbed Stingy by the wrist. Instead of pulling him up, however, he ripped out the cufflink secured to the fancy boy's sleeve.

"Hey!" Stingy cried out with a mix of shock and indignation. "That's mine!"

Robbie released him and Stingy fell back into the seat of his car. The man left him with a nasty chuckle.

"Three down..."

* * *

The sight of the yellow and red paneling of her uncle's house gave Stephanie an extra burst of speed and she ran full force into the door, throwing it wide open.

"Uncle Milford, Uncle Milford!" she gasped and stumbled over the threshold. Her uncle stood in the kitchen puttering around the oven where a cake was baking.

"Why, Stephanie! What on earth is the matter?" the portly man asked. Stephanie ran into the kitchen and caught herself on the table, upsetting a fruit bowl.

"It's Robbie Rotten," she stammered as she tried to catch her breath, "he's gone totally crazy! He's chasing us around and—"

"Oh yes, Mr. Rotten!" Mayor Meanswell declared richly. "He told me all about the game you were going to be playing today. Why, he even told me you might say something like this as part of the game, too! Such a good man to get so involved with all of your activities." The mayor chuckled as he pulled on his oven mitts.

"But uncle," Stephanie sputtered, "it's NOT a—!"

"Hello-o-o in there," Robbie stood in the open doorway of the house, his lanky silhouette filling the frame. "Do I spy a mouse in the house?"

"Uncle Milford!" Stephanie cried.

"Now, now, you run along and have fun, my dear," Mayor Meanswell waved her off with his oven mitt. "Just remember, no roughhousing indoors!"

* * *

Pixel didn't stop running until he had made it all the way to his own house. He collapsed onto his sofa as soon as he was safe inside and his mind went into overdrive trying to catch up with himself. He hoped Ziggy and Trixie were okay and wondered if Stingy and Stephanie had gotten away. But what was Robbie's malfunction?

"Gotta check the video feeds," Pixel murmured to himself. He needed more data before he could figure out what was going on. He moved to his desk and booted up the computer. With a thrum the wall of monitors flickered on and filled his room with their comforting green glow. Already he started to feel better. Technology would help him figure this out.

But when Pixel tried to click on the desktop of his primary monitor nothing happened. He tried to move the cursor around but it remained frozen in the center of the screen.

"Huh? What's going on with the mouse?" Pixel couldn't click on anything! He pulled the mouse up off of the desk to check the optical lens on the bottom but the cord went taut, caught on something. With a sharp tug Pixel pulled the device free to take a closer look—

 _INSTALLATION OF MOUSETRAP-DOT-EXE COMPLETE_ , the computer pinged with a pop-up alert. _INITIATING PROGRAM._

"What?!" Pixel hadn't been downloading anything! He held the unplugged mouse up higher. What was that on the end of the plug? A purple flash drive? "Robbie—!"

The steady green light of the monitors suddenly went an alarming shade of red. They flashed over and over and blared their warnings at Pixel.

 _WARNING_

 _SYSTEM ERROR_

 _WARNING_

 _CRITICAL FAILURE_

"Major glitch!" Pixel banged on the keyboard, trying to put a halt to the fatal scripts that filled up the screens. But the computer wouldn't even respond to the keyboard anymore.

All around him his machines went haywire beeping and flashing, stuttering on fragmented loops and churning through nonsensical data. Pixel was assaulted with all the confusing noises and images to the point where he couldn't think straight, couldn't do anything to stop it. The computers chugged and churned and smoke began to fill the room.

Outside someone was banging on the door. "Pixel!" they were shouting, barely audible over the alarms from the computers. Pixel could hardly see through the thickening smoke as he stumbled away from his desk.

The door flew open and gave him a rectangle of bright light to run towards, the fuzzy blue of the sky a welcome sight. He tripped in his eagerness to get out and threw himself as best he could towards the door. As he reached out towards the blue it seemed to reach in towards him, too. Before he realized it there were two strong hands grabbing hold of him.

For one terrible instant Pixel thought it was Robbie and tried to struggle free. But they didn't let go, holding firm yet gentle. They whisked him up and whirled him out into the open before setting him down carefully on his feet.

Pixel gasped in the fresh air and stared blearily up at the person who'd caught him.

"Sportacus!" he exclaimed.

Sportacus was a sight for sore eyes in his sky blue uniform, and Pixel's eyes were already watery from the smoke. This was no optical illusion. He was really here!

"Are you all right?" Sportacus asked, his face tense with concern. There would be time for a proper reunion later.

"I am now," Pixel said, "but my computer's going nuclear! It's going to blow if I don't get it shut down!"

"I'll take care of it," Sportacus said. Without any further deliberation the man leapt through the open doorway and disappeared into the dark and smoky house.


	19. Chapter 19: Saving the Day

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

As soon as Sportacus set foot in Pixel's house he was confronted by the clamoring alarms, flashing red lights, and the stifling smoke. He vaulted over the couch and dove under the desk where the air was a bit clearer. Down here he groped around until he found a thick coil of wire. Seizing onto the lifeline he gave a decisive yank, ripping the cord out of its socket. But it wasn't the right one.

The alarms droned louder and all the more shrilly as the hero felt around to find the next suspect plug. He grabbed it and jerked it loose, then the next one— Until at last, grabbing a fistful of cords and giving one final wrench, he pulled out every last wire that could possibly power the chaos raging around him. All at once the wall of monitors sputtered out and went dark, leaving the room pale and silent.

Almost silent, at least. Sportacus thought his ears were ringing at first before he realized something was still running. It clicked and whined like a squeaky wheel— or a rusty fan. He crawled farther under the desk, curious to find the source.

"Sportacus, are you okay?" Pixel called from the door. The boy waved his hands around to disperse the smoke as he stepped gingerly back inside.

"Everything's fine," Sportacus called. What was this thing? Smoke was still creeping out of it but at a much reduced rate. It didn't look like any of Pixel's other computers or machines. The contraption seemed to be cobbled together if anything. It gave one final chug and wheeze before finally going quiet, all power run out.

Once they got all the windows open it was a matter of time for the smoke to clear. Miraculously the computers all looked to be just fine, not a toasted tower or melted motherboard to be found. Once Sportacus plugged all of the wires back in he and Pixel just had to wait with fingers crossed to see if the computer would turn back on.

The primary monitor remained black for a moment... then a blinking green cursor appeared on the screen. Pixel tried his hand at his keyboard again and this time the computer responded perfectly.

"All right!" Pixel quickly went to work. "If we're lucky I can just reset the system back to a restore point from before Robbie's virus and we'll be back in business."

"Robbie?" Sportacus repeated. "He did this? What's going on?"

"I don't know!" Pixel said. "Robbie was getting along with all of us just fine, then all of a sudden he completely shut down, like all his shareware turned into malware. And man, is he mean about it!" Pixel's eyes widened as he looked at Sportacus. "He's got Ziggy and Trixie trapped in the park! The last I saw him, Stingy and Stephanie were running away too. We have to check the videos and see what happened to them!"

"This sounds serious..." Sportacus could barely stand still long enough for Pixel to pull up the video feeds on his computer. Time-stamped images blinked on across the wall of monitors and Sportacus frowned up at them.

There were several different angles of Lazy Park, a handful having perfect shots of the large tree where Ziggy and Trixie were strung up in a net. The bundled up kids swung gently on the branch as they wriggled around helplessly. It was enough to make Sportacus take a step towards the door but Pixel cried out and pointed at more of the monitors as the data kept coming in.

"Oh, look! Is that Stingy?!"

Pixel and Sportacus tried to make sense of the footage showing the street— or what was left of it. There were so many holes it looked more like Swiss cheese. Poking out of one of the pits were some desperately wiggling fingers. They scratched at the ground and slowly a swath of brown hair rose up over the edge of the hole. Stingy's eyes appeared next, staring wildly around until he couldn't hold on any longer and he slid back down out of sight.

Sportacus couldn't stand to see anymore. He balled his hands into determined fists and pumped his arms as he threw himself into action.

"I've got to help them," he said, darting towards the door. "Stay here and watch for anything else, all right?"

"Be careful, Sportacus," Pixel called after him. Sportacus gave a quick wave at the boy before cartwheeling out to the sidewalk and sprinting for the pothole road.

* * *

"He-e-elp! Is anyone out there?" Stingy's plaintive cries drifted out of the pit.

Running at full speed Sportacus lunged up onto the brick wall and sprung off of it with both hands, flipping head over heels to the other side. He landed in the narrow margin between two gaping holes in the ground and held his balance as the pavement crumbled a little more under his feet. In one fluid motion he turned himself upside down into a handstand and navigated the treacherous terrain with fingers and palms.

"Stingy, where are you?" Sportacus called. Every hole looked the same out here but only one of them was emitting the noise of a child in distress.

"Who's there? Help!" Stingy's voice came again to Sportacus' left. The man wended his way between potholes and dirt piles until at last he found the boy. Lowering himself down carefully on bent arms he peered down into the pit. "Sportacus? Is that you?!" Stingy squawked up at him in disbelief. "Oh, thank goodness! Get me out of here, please!"

"Hold on, I'll be right there," Sportacus assured him. With a swing of his legs he somersaulted straight down into the hole and landed in the narrow space between Stingy's car and the sheer wall. He stumbled ever so slightly— the ground had more give than he would have expected, almost squishy under his feet. It was almost as if it were... padded with something?

"Look what Robbie did!" Stingy cried, flailing his arms around. "He destroyed my road, and this!" He held up one stiff arm towards Sportacus. The hero looked for any cuts or scrapes but found none.

"What is it?" Sportacus asked.

"My cufflink!" Stingy shouted. "He gave it to me before, but now he went and took it! He tore it right off of me! You have to do something!"

Sportacus had to chuckle a little, just relieved that Stingy wasn't really hurt. "First let's get you out of this hole," he said. Taking hold of the fancy boy under the arms he lifted him up towards the rim of the pit. "Can you climb out?"

With Sportacus' added leverage Stingy was able to scrabble his way up and over the side. He rolled onto solid ground and scrambled to his hands and knees.

"What about my car?" Stingy asked.

"I'll come back for it later," Sportacus said. He crouched down, all the muscles in his back and legs tensing. With an explosive show of strength he jumped straight up and grabbed hold of the ledge and hoisted himself up out of the hole. Right now he had to get to the park.

* * *

Trixie let out what must have been her fifteenth sigh, each one more exasperated than the last. She could barely move in the net and her legs were cramping. She couldn't reach her hands out to grab the tree or the rope that held her and Ziggy suspended either. Worst of all, she couldn't stand the crunching noises anymore.

"Ziggy, would you stop eating the lollipop?!" she exclaimed. "If it weren't for that candy we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"But we're already stuck," Ziggy said, pulling the sucker out of his mouth to pout. "I may as well have it, can't I?"

"Get rid of it!" Trixie demanded.

"Just one more lick," Ziggy mumbled. Trixie couldn't see Ziggy beneath her to check if he was really stopping. The boy crunched on the hard candy again.

"Ugh," Trixie ground her teeth together and tangled her fingers in the net. "Let me OUT!"

"Hang on just a little longer," Sportacus called, "I'm coming!"

"Say what?" Trixie tried to look out through the braiding of the net, not believing her ears.

"Sportacus!" Ziggy gasped and cheered. He wriggled madly and jostled Trixie around in his excitement. "Sportacus is back! He's coming to save us!"

Sportacus bounded through the park in a blue blur. The athletic man lunged up off the ground and grabbed onto the branch where Ziggy and Trixie were tied up. He swung all the way up and around the branch once— twice— three times before coming to a rest on top of the bough and getting to work on the rope that kept the net suspended off the ground. The knots came undone easily under his rapidly working fingers— it was almost as though they were meant to come undone on their own given enough time. But there was no time like the present.

When the last knot slipped free the net plummeted towards the ground with Ziggy and Trixie shrieking all the way. Sportacus held tight to the end of the rope and jumped down, stopping the bundle of kids short of the ground by the grace of a few inches. He lowered them the rest of the way more gently and helped to untangle them from the netting.

"Thanks, Sportacus! I don't know how much longer I could have stood being up there!" Trixie shook out her arms and legs and stood well away from Ziggy, taking up as much room now as she could. She let out a loud huff. "Grrr—! When I get my hands on Robbie...!"

"My hero!" Ziggy cried as he hugged onto Sportacus' legs. Sportacus crouched down to accept the embrace and check the boy over for any injuries. Other than having wobbly knees and stiff backs, though, both kids seemed fine. All of the kids were okay...

But where was Stephanie?


	20. Chapter 20: Status Quo

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

"Sportacus!"

Something shiny and metallic whizzed overhead that made Sportacus and the other kids duck down. It looked like a UFO, all chrome and sleek, but when it banked around to come back they saw a camera lens on the front of the airborne dish. It was Pixel's digi-cam device and it circled them as the gizmo guy's voice came out of it from a tiny microphone.

"Sportacus, can you hear me?"

"I can hear you, Pixel," Sportacus said. "What's going on?"

"Robbie Rotten has just been sighted, and he's got Stephanie on the run! You need to get across town right now!"

"I'm on my way," Sportacus said.

"We're coming too!" Trixie said.

"Yeah!" Ziggy threw aside his mostly eaten lollipop. "Let's all stop Robbie!"

"Hey, guys!" Stingy called shrilly as he ran through the park towards them, "wait for me!"

"All right," Sportacus rallied the troops, "let's go!" He pumped his arms in his signature move to loosen up all the anxious energy coursing through his muscles and broke into a decisive sprint with the kids following.

He cut through the community garden, flipping over flower beds and vaulting off an empty wheelbarrow. Jumping and twisting through the air he flew through the playground and sprung off the seesaw, launching himself clear over the swing-set and onward. The kids all cheered his acrobatics even as they fell behind. The only one who could keep pace with Sportacus was Pixel's digi-cam flying at top speed just ahead of him leading the way.

Sportacus could hear Stephanie before he saw her. The girl was screaming and hollering like her life depended on it. Following closely on the heels of her high pitched yelps was a much deeper and raspier voice, a nasty cackling and taunting.

"There's no reason to keep running, pip-squeak. There's nowhere to go and no one to help you now."

"This isn't funny, Robbie, please! Stop it!" Stephanie tried to reason with her pursuer as she continued to run away, but it was no good. The villain let out another horrible laugh that let her know it was funny to him.

Sportacus leapt up onto a low wall and looked around anxiously. Over there! Flashing by in the blink of an eye was a pink head of hair. Following not too far behind was a much larger purple shape. Robbie loped after Stephanie with a long fishing net balanced on one shoulder. It was big enough to catch a fish as big as a tuna— or a little girl.

Stephanie changed course abruptly and Sportacus craned his neck to keep her in view. She had caught sight of the treehouse and poured on an extra burst of speed. The girl threw herself at the ladder and clambered up in record time, barged open the hatch door, and vanished inside. The door slammed shut just as Robbie arrived at the base of the tree.

"Leave me alone!" Stephanie shouted from the treehouse window. Robbie turned his net idly in his hands as he looked up at her. He ran his gaze from the tightly shut hatch all the way down the ladder and back up again.

"You want to stay up there? Fine." Tucking the net under one arm he seized hold of the ladder and grunted with the effort as he pulled it away from the tree. "I'll _leaf_ you alone, all right. Don't let anyone say I was all _bark_ and no bite."

The ladder creaked and shifted away from the trunk. Stephanie cried out her protest but there was nothing she could do. With a big push Robbie shoved the ladder clear of the tree. It stood free of any support for one long second before slowly teetering over.

"Tim-m-m-ber-r-r," Robbie crowed as the ladder gained speed for a hard crash into the ground, one that should surely shatter it to splinters.

Sportacus sprang off the wall and tumbled through the air like a whirling dervish. He twirled around and over and landed in a handspring before throwing himself back up on his feet just in time to raise both arms up and catch the ladder! He bowed under the weight of the large and heavy instrument but refused to give in. Above his head he heard Stephanie let out a gasp.

"Sportacus!" she cried in shock and joy.

"Sportacus!" Robbie cried at almost the same time.

"Robbie Rotten!" Trixie howled, the first of the kids to catch up on the scene. "You better leave Stephanie alone!"

"That's right!" Ziggy shouted close behind her. "If you want her, you have to go through all of us!"

"Wait for me, I said!" Stingy panted and nearly collapsed in a heap.

"Game over, Robbie!" Pixel's digi-cam buzzed around the villain's head, making the man startle back like he was being menaced by a bumble bee. "It looks like you just lost!"

Robbie got a hold of himself and let out a terrible growl. He clenched his net in both hands and swung it wildly at the flying camera. He snagged the pesky drone in midair with a triumphant snarl. As he swung the net around to dash the machine against the tree, however, its engines kicked into overdrive and sent it flying in the opposite direction, deep into the net.

The digi-cam pulled hard against the net, unable to get free. It pulled so hard in fact that it started to drag Robbie across the ground. Robbie stumbled and clutched to the pole of the net as he fought against the flying camera. Trixie, Stingy, and Ziggy all gave loud battle cries as they rushed the villain. They grabbed at his arms and legs meaning to knock him down.

"Get off of me you little ankle biters!" Robbie staggered around with the digi-cam pulling him one way and the kids pushing and pulling him another. He tried to kick them off but they held fast and all he managed to do was give Ziggy a ride on his knee.

While the kids kept Robbie busy Sportacus could focus on helping Stephanie. He hefted the whole ladder up above his shoulders, straining his arms until the unwieldy thing was balanced over his head. Carefully he tilted the ladder so that it rested just-so against the treehouse window.

"Come down, Stephanie!" Sportacus encouraged her. Stephanie didn't need to be told twice. She climbed out through the window and wobbled for a moment on the ladder before hot-stepping it down the rungs with her arms out. She jumped off towards the bottom and pointed sharply towards Robbie.

"Sportacus, look out!"

Yanked helplessly about by the snagged digi-cam Robbie wove and wobbled across the ground on a collision course for Sportacus. Sportacus gripped the heavy ladder over his head and braced himself.

"Everyone get down!" he commanded.

One by one Trixie, Stingy, and Ziggy let go of Robbie to tuck and roll out of harm's way while Stephanie took cover in another direction. As Robbie came careening towards Sportacus the blue-clad hero pivoted sharply on one heel, swinging himself narrowly out of the path of the digi-cam. The two men passed each other by a hair's breadth.

Carried by the momentum the ladder swung all the way around with Sportacus. With an audible _whap_ it caught Robbie on the backside and knocked him off his feet face first into a hedge of bushes. The man gave a strangled yell as he crashed through the foliage out of sight.

All of the children ran over to join Sportacus and watched the bushes shake and shudder as Robbie thrashed around within their branches. Pixel's digi-cam darted out of the hedge after a moment, finally freed. As for Robbie...

The purple pinstriped man lumbered up to his feet in the middle of the bushes with his own net tangled over his head and shoulders. He grimaced and glowered at the kids and their hero before turning tail and making his clumsy getaway. They didn't try to chase after him. Everyone was too busy laughing and cheering.

"Sportacus, you did it!" Ziggy applauded his idol as the man carefully propped the ladder back up against the tree where it belonged and dusted off his hands.

"That was so cool!" Trixie laughed.

"Oh, Sportacus, thank you!" Stephanie threw her arms around Sportacus and they shared a hug. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't shown up!"

"No kidding," Stingy said. "Who would have guessed that Robbie would go so— so rotten? Ugh!"

"Yeah," Ziggy agreed with a whine in his voice. "After all the cake we ate and all the games we played, I really thought he was our friend!"

"Maybe it was all just a trick," Pixel's voice suggested through his digi-cam. "We should never have trusted Robbie."

"That's right!" Trixie said. "If I never saw Robbie again it would be too soon!"

"Are you sure about that?" Sportacus asked. "Couldn't this just be some misunderstanding?"

"What is there to understand?" Stephanie asked. "He doesn't want to be our friend. He's just a mean, horrible—..." The girl choked up and her face went pink. "He's bad," she finished shortly. There was no more to be said on the matter.

"And anyway, everything's fine now," Stingy said, "now that _you're_ back, Sportacus." The other kids agreed and rallied around Sportacus all the closer, excited to celebrate his return. "Now let's go get my car out of that hole!"

* * *

It was over so quickly. Sportacus really was fast, Robbie had to hand it to him. One minute Robbie had had it all— the respect, the power, the fun— and the next minute it was gone.

It had been fun, too, maybe more fun than he had ever had in his life. This was truly how he liked to play— not nice, not fair. He snuck around, set traps, and caused fear and chaos better than anyone else. He was so good, he was bad.

And he felt bad.

But it was for the best, wasn't it? Already he could see the kids clearly happier to have Sportacus back, the blue elf regaining his rightful place as the hero of LazyTown. He watched them all from a safe distance now that he'd gotten the net off of his head. All of the kids were still worked up from their ordeal and the sporty man was having a hard time calming them down.

Robbie felt a painful ache in his chest with every hard feeling and harsh word the kids spat out about him. They were upset by his betrayal, naturally. Somehow Robbie found it easier to absorb the anger steaming out Trixie rather than the hurt and sadness pouring out of Ziggy or Stephanie. He didn't care to see or hear anymore and slunk quietly away, leaving them alone.

By the sound of things they were going to have a party and everyone would be invited. Everyone except for him, of course. That was to be expected. Things were just how they were meant to be.


	21. Chapter 21: Someone in Trouble

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

All was quiet and calm in LazyTown that night. The streets were empty and the holes had been filled in on the road. Stingy's car had been buffed and polished back to its full glory and sat parked peacefully by the brick wall. Nobody stirred, everyone sleeping soundly in their homes.

Almost everyone, anyway. Deep underground, alone in his lair, Robbie Rotten was having a nightmare.

His head tossed from side to side, his hands clenched into fists, and his legs twitched and fidgeted restlessly. Flashes of the day's events kept filling his head in a discomforting jumble. Baiting kids with candy, cars crashing into pitfalls, computers blaring and smoking; chasing children with nets and getting whacked with ladders. Faces full of fear twisting with shock and dismay— maybe even hatred. High pitched panic turning into angry overtones and harsh words as everyone disavowed themselves of Robbie and his friendship, forsaking him, and good riddance to him, who needs him, nobody—

Robbie gasped so loudly that he startled himself out of his restless dreams. But waking up couldn't help him to escape his unpleasant reality. His head pounded from exhaustion, his body was bruised and battered from his last defeat, and he was so tired, but he just couldn't sleep. He found it hard to breathe in the confines of his bunker. Everything he'd done, everything that had happened was suffocating him. He needed some air. He needed to get out.

* * *

High in the sky, alone in his airship, Sportacus was still awake even well after it was eight o' eight. Where he would normally fall quickly to sleep once settled under his comforter as white and fluffy as a cloud, this time a brainstorm was raging in his head. He had a lot to think about from that afternoon.

The party had been put together hastily and was fun for the most part. The kids wanted to know all about what Sportacus had been doing the past few weeks and for him to show off some new moves that he'd learned along the way. He was happy to regale them with his adventures and entertain them with his physical feats.

When Sportacus asked what all the kids had been up to in return, what he got was more than he ever could have expected. Stories about Robbie pulling in the biggest largemouth bass on record, Robbie and Trixie terrorizing the town with their pranks and mischief, Robbie beating the hardest level on Pixel's favorite video game but accidentally crashing the system before he could enter his initials into the high score board. Reliving those times put obvious excitement on the children's faces as they laughed over all the ways that they and Robbie had filled the days.

And in the immediate wake of all those happy memories each child caught themselves laughing and subdued themselves, wiping tears of mirth from their eyes, clearing their throats, and falling silent until the next story bubbled up out of them in spite of themselves... For all the cake and sportscandy set out it was a bittersweet celebration.

A sudden and sharp series of rapid beeps startled Sportacus into sitting straight up in his bed. When he threw back his comforter a bright light pulsed out and filled the airship with a strange and soft glow. He stared down at his chest where his crystal rang and flashed.

"Someone's in trouble?" Sportacus couldn't imagine what sort of trouble anyone could get into this late at night. Jumping to his feet he strode across deck to investigate by means of "Door!"

The door dropped down into a platform for the man to step out into the cold night air. Sportacus pulled out his spyglass and combed over the dark roofs of the town, looking for what could be amiss. Everywhere he looked there was nothing to suggest a problem. All windows were dark, the townspeople safe inside and asleep. What was wrong?

He almost missed it on his first pass and had to take a double look. Way out on the outskirts of town, there on the old billboard was a dark spot just a shade off from the rest of the gloomy surroundings. Sitting precariously on top of the sign was none other than Robbie Rotten.

Sportacus squinted uncertainly into the spyglass as he studied the man. Was he stuck? He wasn't moving much. It was hard to tell if he was even awake or not with his head drooping down into his chest. The sight was familiar to Sportacus, only this time there was no rabid robotic dog on the loose to explain what had gotten Robbie up there.

It felt a bit strange to go check on the town's resident villain after just foiling one of his nefarious plots earlier that same day. There was nobody else around who seemed to be in need of help, though. He would just drop in and see that everything was all right. Maybe then he would be able to get some rest.

* * *

Hunkered down like a gargoyle Robbie didn't notice the airship silently skimming to a halt overhead. Numbed by the cold as he was he didn't react to a spindly rope ladder unfurling nearby either. It wasn't until Sportacus had climbed down partway and jumped the rest of the way to land solidly on the narrow edge of the billboard that Robbie realized he wasn't alone.

The shuddering of the metal frame and the sudden appearance of the blue elf shocked a strangled yelp out of Robbie and made him nearly jump out of his skin. He teetered on the billboard, starting to fall backwards right off of the thing. Quickly Sportacus grabbed the man by the arm and pulled him back.

"Woah, there," Sportacus said. Once Robbie had his hands clenched securely on some of the supporting struts of the billboard Sportacus released him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

"I— I wasn't startled," Robbie snapped. He couldn't hold Sportacus' gaze, only deigning to give the intruder of his solitude side-eyed glances. "What are you even doing out here? You can't wake up _this_ early."

With a soft chuckle Sportacus gestured at his chest. His crystal was still flashing, blinking in and out like a beacon. The two men watched it together, equally perplexed.

"I thought maybe you were stuck," Sportacus suggested.

"No," Robbie corrected him. He turned his head away, clearly uncomfortable under the helpful hero's attentions. He muttered something under his breath. "Well... maybe..."

"Why don't I give you a hand then?" Sportacus extending his arm. Robbie flinched away from the action and shook his head.

"I'm not stuck like that," he growled, and cleared his throat. "I mean— I mean to be out here. Haven't you ever heard of someone going out in the middle of the night to stargaze?"

"Really?" Sportacus raised his eyebrows at this. How could anyone expect to have any energy in the morning if they stayed up all night? But he held his tongue on the lecture and surprised both of them by asking instead, "Do you mind if I join you?"

Robbie opened his mouth but no words came out. He didn't know how to refuse at this point. When he found his voice again all he could muster was a gruff, "Suit yourself."

"Thanks," Sportacus said. With a hop he dropped down to sit on the edge of the billboard, dangling his legs over the side. Robbie jerked and tensed at his brief athletic outburst before settling back down.

So they sat like that. Robbie had never seen Sportacus so still before and he kept glancing over at him suspiciously for it. Who would ever believe that LazyTown's slightly above average hero and its villain would sit together looking up at the stars? The moment was both surreal and awkward. It didn't help that Sportacus' crystal persisted in glowing even now.

"Can't you turn that thing off?" Robbie finally asked. Sportacus cupped a hand over his prized possession to obstruct some of the light pollution but shook his head.

"It beeps when there's trouble," Sportacus said. "But I can't figure out where it is." He looked carefully at Robbie. "Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"I said I'm fine," Robbie asserted sourly. He tried to turn it around on the man. "Maybe you should look out for yourself. Doesn't that flashy noisemaker ever go off for _you?_ "

Sportacus looked intrigued by the proposition and looked up towards his airship to mull it over. The pensive silence was no more comfortable than the one before it. Eventually Sportacus tried to laugh it off.

"What kind of trouble could I get into?" he asked. "I only ever have to save everyone else, not myself."

"That's right," Robbie said. "And if nobody needed you to save them anymore, wouldn't that be trouble for you?"

"Well— maybe— No," Sportacus settled on rejecting the idea. "It would be better if nobody needed saving, wouldn't it? I would rather that no one needed me if it meant they had to be in trouble for me to be of use..."

Something in the man's tone tickled Robbie's ear. Was it a hint of sadness? Sportacus glanced over at Robbie and caught his shifty eye before he could avoid it.

"Actually," Sportacus confided in him, "to tell you the truth..."

The man paused, drumming his fingers nervously on the billboard. Robbie held his breath without even realizing, waiting for him to go on.

"Today," Sportacus said, "I would not have even been able to save everyone when they needed me..."

He glanced down at his crystal, giving it a gentle rap with his knuckles.

"My crystal never beeped all afternoon. The only reason I knew there was trouble was because of the letter I got, warning me."

Sportacus dug into one of his pockets, rooting around until he pulled out a folded up and crumpled piece of paper. He unfolded it slowly, letting the light from his crystal illuminate the badly scrawled note. Robbie sat still as a statue. Eventually the sports elf chuckled.

"It's funny. I asked all the kids about it, and none of them say they wrote it." He grinned wryly up at the stars. "Maybe... they weren't in trouble after all?"

"How should I know?" Robbie mumbled. The night air was starting to make his skin burn from the chilly bite. It was causing all sorts of strange reactions in him. His throat felt a little dry and his pulse was just a little too fast for sitting still. He could even feel a bead of sweat run down the side of his neck.

Sportacus let out another chuckle. Neither of them were going to say it. Robbie didn't want to give either of them the chance to change their minds.

"It doesn't matter anyway," Robbie said brusquely. "You're back now, and you probably got a stinking trophy just for showing up. I bet you missed all the hero worship," he said snidely.

"I guess there is part of me that likes to be the hero everyone likes me to be," Sportacus said carefully. "I missed being here to save everyone, sure. But mostly..." Again Robbie heard that particular tone in Sportacus' voice, a melancholic chord. "I missed all of my friends here the most. It was hard not having these friends when I couldn't be their hero." He shrugged helplessly. "But at least they had you."

Robbie wanted to feel victorious. After suffering all of his own disappointments and defeats, it was gratifying to hear undeniable proof that he had managed to injure his mortal enemy. He had truly gotten the better of Sportacus, if only for a while. Rather than reveling in his silent success Robbie scoffed in the sports elf's face.

"Do you _really_ believe that you're only a friend to those brats as long as you're saving them?"

Sportacus furrowed his brow in a strange look at Robbie. He didn't seem sure how to answer.

"Of course you're not!" Robbie exclaimed. "Those kids were completely lost without you, they missed you so much! It was pathetic, really." He rolled his shoulders in a reflexive twitch and challenged Sportacus, "And do you _really_ think that someone like— like me, could replace you? Fah!" He spat off the side of the billboard. "Entirely out of the question. I would never _dream_ of doing all those horrible sports games or eating sportscandy that those nasty children love so much, no matter how much they wanted me to. In fact," Robbie found the words pouring out of him now, the dam broken, "it's been a lot harder around LazyTown since you've been gone."

"Really...?" Sportacus asked softly, almost scandalized. "Robbie, did _you_ miss me?"

"W-what? No!" Robbie sputtered and stammered. "I was just saying it's been hard. Being the hero for these kids is too much work for one simple rotten guy. It's so tiring having to do all that saving and being on the alert every waking moment." Again Robbie found he couldn't stop the words tumbling out of his mouth as he unloaded on the man. "I never get any peace and quiet anymore with everyone wanting a piece of me all the time! And besides, it's just more fun to be the bad guy," he declared staunchly. "I miss wearing my disguises and tricking those simpleminded fools, and doing things just for _me_. How am I supposed to be able to do that if there isn't someone here to pick up the slack for me, I ask you?"

The more excuses Robbie spouted the more Sportacus' face started to shift into a grin, his mustache tweaking and his eyes lighting up. When Robbie had finally vented all he could he fell silent, clamping his mouth shut. A pregnant pause developed between them.

Quietly Sportacus said, "Maybe we are both in trouble, after all."

Robbie snorted at this. "How much trouble is it for you to know that the whole town missed you and wants you to stay?" He crossed his arms tightly over his chest. "It should be simple enough for you to go back to being everyone's hero, and I—..." He coughed. "Well. I'm fine on my own. The kids already hate me again, so that's not so hard..."

"It's not that simple," Sportacus denied him. Robbie ground his teeth together.

"And why not?" he asked.

With just a touch of amusement Sportacus said, "I think the kids like you more than you give them credit for. They missed you a lot today. If you go back to your old ways it will just make them more sad."

"Yeah, well," Robbie grumbled, his shoulders hunching up around his ears. "Whatever."

"I missed you too, Robbie," Sportacus added. Robbie jerked his head in the elf's direction, his eyes almost bugging out. The villain's face went a full shade darker than normal.

"You—... are just as crazy as the rest of those kids, Sporta-KOOK."

"It doesn't have to be like this," Sportacus insisted. "The kids don't want only me or only you, they like us _both_. If we're both in the same trouble, can't we find a way to solve it together?"

Robbie looked hard at Sportacus for a long moment, meeting his gaze for the first time. In the intermittent glow of the crystal the shadows under his eyes made him look more daunting and intimidating than he ever had before, but Sportacus didn't shrink away. Finally Robbie spoke again.

"Why are you always so nice to me?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?" Sportacus asked. Robbie gave a shake of his head, letting out a small growl.

"Don't play stupid with me. It's always been obvious that I don't like you. I've tried to trap you, to sabotage you, to run you out of town." He admitted to it all without a hint of guilt or shame. They were just the facts. "We have nothing in common that would make us friends. So stop pretending already."

"That's not true," Sportacus protested. "We do have something in common."

"Oh yeah?" Robbie asked dryly. "What would that be?"

"It's simple," Sportacus said. "We both care about LazyTown."

Robbie stared at Sportacus. "What?"

"We might care about it and show it in different ways," Sportacus forged ahead, "but that's what it comes down to, isn't it? We both want what's best for this town and the people in it. And for you of all people to say that it's better for LazyTown if I stay, well... You must care very much about it."

"If you want what's best for this town," Robbie said in a low voice, "why haven't you ever tried to get rid of _me?_ "

"You do stir up a lot of trouble," Sportacus conceded. But as he spoke it was almost with fondness rather than fury. "You try to lead the kids astray and make them lazy. Sometimes, you can be just plain difficult."

"Go on, don't let me stop you," Robbie grumbled.

"But I would never want you to leave, Robbie," Sportacus said. "I'm not trying to stop anyone from ever having any sweets or being a little lazy sometimes. I just want everyone to be as happy as they can be. And the best way I know how to do that is to help them be active and eat right. It seems to me, though," the elf deduced slyly, "you found other ways how everyone can be happier too— and not just by eating cake and sleeping all day. Isn't that right?"

"We may have found a few things to do," Robbie said, avoiding Sportacus' eyes again. He had become very fidgety in the past few minutes.

"I think the best thing for LazyTown," Sportacus proposed, "is to have both of us here. What do you think about that?"

Robbie mulled it over, somewhat disdainful of the elf's unfailingly optimistic outlook but resigning himself to the possibility. He'd already accepted that he couldn't get rid of Sportacus— not again. Maybe the town could be big enough for the both of them.

"That doesn't mean," Robbie said, expressing one last shred of resistance, "that I'm just going to sit by quietly every time you turn this place upside-down into a noisy and hyper CrazyTown."

"That's fair," Sportacus said, his smile audible in his tone. "It's good for everyone to know how to relax sometimes. But I can't stand by when the kids start to eat themselves sick or go stiff from lying around all day doing nothing, either."

"That's... fair," Robbie agreed more reluctantly.

They sized each other up one last time. Sportacus extended his hand to the villain— the occasion didn't seem to call for anything as overly intimate as a hug, but Robbie found himself slowly reciprocating in a firm handshake. He managed not to wince in the elf's strong grip. It didn't really hurt that much and his fingers only throbbed a little when the man let go of him.

"It's pretty late," Sportacus said. He jumped up onto his feet and balanced on the billboard once again. "We should both get some sleep. Have a good night, Robbie."

"Sportacus, wait," Robbie spluttered as the blue-clad man reached out to grab the rope ladder that would take him back up into his airship. "There is one more thing."

"Oh?" Sportacus paused with one foot on the ladder, looking back inquisitively. "What is it?"

Meekly Robbie held out his hand to the elf again. "Do you think you could... help me get down from here?" he asked.

Sportacus' expression broke into a broad smile and he laughed. "Are you sure you need my help?" he asked, and gestured at his chest. "I mean, look: my crystal isn't beeping anymore."


	22. Chapter 22: Play Along - An Epilogue

Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.

* * *

All of the kids were out on the sports field in full force. They laughed and yelled and ran around freely. There was not a care in the world to be had as their fun loving hero, Sportacus, was out there playing with them, just like the good old days.

Then came Robbie Rotten. The villain was careful not to show himself openly. He skulked into the area and peeked over the gate at all the festivities going on. They were in the middle of an intense soccer match by the looks of things. Stephanie was acting as goalie on one side and Pixel on the other with Stingy and Sportacus serving as their defense lines. Ziggy and Trixie meanwhile were struggling to gain possession of the ball from each other.

At last Ziggy managed to get the ball away from Trixie. He dribbled away from her and gave a mighty kick that sent the soccer ball sailing clear past the goal. It soared through the air on a direct course for Robbie's hiding spot. The kids watched as it hurtled over the gate and heard a strange sound like a gasp. But there was no rubber bounce of the ball hitting the ground on the other side.

Slowly Robbie rose up from behind the gate with the soccer ball squeezed in both hands. Everything ground to a halt and all eyes fixed on the unexpected spectator.

"Robbie Rotten!" the kids shouted in chorus.

Robbie flinched and his face twitched between a nervous grin and a glare. He promptly dropped the ball over the gate back into the sports field and turned quickly away to scuttle off.

"Hey, Robbie, wait!" Sportacus called after the retreating villain. Robbie tripped to a halt and peered narrowly back over his shoulder. "Why don't you join us?"

The invitation set off some dubious murmurs among the kids. They looked between the sports elf and the villain uncertainly. The expressions on their faces weren't so outright welcoming and Robbie muttered something unintelligible to decline.

"You can be on my team, Robbie!" Ziggy suddenly piped up in offer.

"Yeah, that's fair," Trixie said. "Your team needs all the help it can get."

"No, he should be on _my_ team," Stingy countered.

"Would you like to take over as goalie?" Stephanie asked. "You won't have to run all over the field that way."

"He can take my spot," Pixel said, pulling off his own goalie gloves. "I don't mind keeping score for the rest of the game as referee."

They started to chatter excitedly again, their faces turning bright and open. Robbie didn't move, didn't say a word. He just stood where he was completely dumbfounded.

"Come on, Robbie, let's play," Sportacus encouraged him and waved him over. Hesitantly Robbie picked up one foot, then the other, and slowly approached. As the gate creaked open a small grin gradually spread across his lips at the same time.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reading. I hope you had fun.


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